The experiences of Muslim women vary widely between and within different societies,[1] at the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree and gives them a common identity that may serve to bridge the wide cultural, social, and economic differences between them.[1]

Among the influences which have played an important role in defining the social, spiritual and cosmological status of women in the course of Islamic history are Islam's sacred text, the Qur'an; the Ḥadīths, which are traditions relating to the deeds and aphorisms of Islam's Prophet Muḥammad;[2] ijmā', which is a consensus, expressed or tacit, on a question of law;[3] qiyās, the principle by which the laws of the Qur'an and the Sunnah or Prophetic custom are applied to situations not explicitly covered by these two sources of legislation;[4] and fatwas, non-binding published opinions or decisions regarding religious doctrine or points of law. Additional influences include pre-Islamic cultural traditions; secular laws, which are fully accepted in Islam so long as they do not directly contradict Islamic precepts;[5] religious authorities, including government-controlled agencies such as the Indonesian Ulema Council and Turkey's Diyanet;[6] and spiritual teachers, which are particularly prominent in Islamic mysticism or Sufism. Many of the latter – including perhaps most famously, Ibn al-'Arabī – have themselves produced texts that have elucidated the metaphysical symbolism of the feminine principle in Islam.[7]

There is considerable variation as to how the above sources are interpreted by Orthodox Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'a – approximately 90% of the world's Muslim population – and ideological fundamentalists, most notably those subscribing to Wahhabism or Salafism, who comprise roughly 9% of the total.[8] In particular, Wahhabis and Salafists tend to reject mysticism and theology outright; this has profound implications for the way that women are perceived within these ideological sects.[9] Conversely, within Islamic Orthodoxy, both the established theological schools and Sufism are at least somewhat influential.[10]

A fragment of Sūrat an-Nisāʼ – a chapter of Islam's sacred text entitled 'Women' – featuring the Persian, Arabic and Kufic scripts. Islam views men and women as equal before God, and the Qur'an underlines that man and woman were "created of a single soul" (4:1, 39:6 and elsewhere).[14]

Women in Islam are provided a number of guidelines under Quran and hadiths, as understood by fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) as well as of the interpretations derived from the hadith that were agreed upon by majority of Sunni scholars as authentic beyond doubt based on hadith studies.[15][16] These interpretations and their application were shaped by the historical context of the Muslim world at the time they were written.[15]

During his life, Muhammad married nine or eleven women depending upon the differing accounts of who were his wives; in Arabian culture, marriage was generally contracted in accordance with the larger needs of the tribe and was based on the need to form alliances within the tribe and with other tribes. Virginity at the time of marriage was emphasised as a tribal honour.[17]William Montgomery Watt states that all of Muhammad's marriages had the political aspect of strengthening friendly relationships and were based on the Arabian custom.[18]

The above primary sources of influence on women of Islam do not deal with every conceivable situation over time, this led to the development of jurisprudence and religious schools with Islamic scholars that referred to resources such as identifying authentic documents, internal discussions and establishing a consensus to find the correct religiously approved course of action for Muslims.[11][12] These formed the secondary sources of influence for women, among them are ijma, qiya, ijtihad and others depending on sect and the school of Islamic law. Included in secondary sources are fatwas, which are often widely distributed, orally or in writing by Muslim clerics, to the masses, in local language and describe behavior, roles and rights of women that conforms with religious requirements. Fatwas are theoretically non-binding, but seriously considered and have often been practiced by most Muslim believers, the secondary sources typically fall into five types of influence: the declared role or behavior for Muslims, both women and men, is considered obligatory, commendable, permissible, despised or prohibited. There is considerable controversy, change over time, and conflict between the secondary sources.[21][22][23]

A fifteenth-century Persian miniature depiciting the Battle of the Camel, a decisive encounter between the troops of the fourth caliph 'Alī, and an opposing army rallied by Muḥammad's wife, Āʿisha.[24][25] In the aftermath of Alī's victory, Āʿisha withdrew from politics. Traditionalists have used this episode to argue that women should not play an active political role, while modernists have held up Āʿisha's legacy in arguing for gender equity in the Islamic tradition.[26]

Gender roles in Islam are simultaneously coloured by two Qur'anic precepts: (i) spiritual equality between women and men; and (ii) the idea that women are meant to exemplify femininity, and men masculinity.[27]

Spiritual equality between women and men is detailed in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (33:35):

Verily, men who surrender unto God, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth...and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember God much and women who remember – God hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.

Islam's basic view of women and men postulates a complementarity of functions: like everything else in the universe, humanity has been created in a pair (Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt, 51:49) – neither can be complete without the other.[29] In Islamic cosmological thinking, the universe is perceived as an equilibrium built on harmonious polar relationships between the pairs that make up all things.[29] Moreover, all outward phenomena are reflections of inward noumena and ultimately of God.[29]

The emphasis which Islam places upon the feminine/masculine polarity (and therefore complementarity) results, quite logically, in a separation of social functions;[30] in general, a woman's sphere of operation is the home in which she is the dominant figure – and a man's corresponding sphere is the outside world.[31][better source needed]However, this separation is not, in practice, as rigid as it appears.[30] There are many examples – both in the early history of Islam and in the contemporary world – of Muslim women who have played prominent roles in public life, including being sultanas, queens, elected heads of state and wealthy businesswomen. Moreover, it is important to recognise that in Islam, home and family are firmly situated at the centre of life in this world and of society: a man's work cannot take precedence over the private realm.[31]

The Quran dedicates numerous verses to Muslim women, their role, duties and rights, in addition to Sura 4 with 176 verses named "An-Nisa" ("Women").[32]

Islam differentiates the gender role of women who believe in Islam and those who do not.[citation needed] The Muslim male's right to own slave women, seized during military campaigns and jihad against non-believing pagans and infidels from Southern Europe to Africa to India to Central Asia, was considered natural.[33][34] Slave women could be sold without their consent, expected to provide concubinage, required permission from their owner to marry; and children born to them were automatically considered Muslim under Islamic law if the father was a Muslim.[35][36][37]

The University of al-Qarawiyyin (Université Al Quaraouiyine) in the Moroccan city of Fes was founded as a madrasa-mosque complex by a Muslim woman – Fatima al-Fihri, the educated daughter of a wealthy merchant – in 859. According to UNESCO, it is the oldest university in the world which is still operational,[38] it was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963.

Both the Qur'an – Islam's sacred text – and the spoken or acted example of Muḥammad (sunnah) advocate the rights of women and men equally to seek knowledge.[39] The Qur'an commands all Muslims to exert effort in the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of their biological sex: it constantly encourages Muslims to read, think, contemplate and learn from the signs of God in nature.[39] Moreover, Muḥammad encouraged education for both males and females: he declared that seeking knowledge was a religious duty binding upon every Muslim man and woman.[40] Like her male counterpart, each woman is under a moral and religious obligation to seek knowledge, develop her intellect, broaden her outlook, cultivate her talents and then utilise her potential to the benefit of her soul and her society.[41]

The interest of Muḥammad in female education was manifest in the fact that he himself used to teach women along with men.[41][better source needed] Muḥammad's teachings were widely sought by both sexes, and accordingly at the time of his death it was reported that there were many female scholars of Islam.[40] Additionally, the wives of Muḥammad – particularly Aisha – also taught both women and men; many of Muḥammad's companions and followers learned the Qur'an, ḥadīth and Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) from Aisha.[42] Notably, there was no restriction placed on the type of knowledge acquired: a woman was free to choose any field of knowledge that interested her,[43] because Islam recognises that women are in principle wives and mothers, the acquisition of knowledge in fields which are complementary to these social roles was specially emphasised.[44]

James E. Lindsay said that Islam encouraged religious education of Muslim women.[45] According to a hadith in Saḥih Muslim variously attributed to 'Ā'isha and Muhammad, the women of the ansar were praiseworthy because shame did not prevent them from asking detailed questions about Islamic law.[45][46]

While it was not common for women to enroll as students in formal religious schools, it was common for women to attend informal lectures and study sessions at mosques, madrasas and other public places, for example, the attendance of women at the Fatimid Caliphate's "sessions of wisdom" (majālis al-ḥikma) was noted by various historians, including Ibn al-Tuwayr, al-Muṣabbiḥī and Imam.[47] Historically, some Muslim women played an important role in the foundation of many religious educational institutions, such as Fatima al-Fihri's founding of the University of al-Karaouine in 859 CE.[48]:274 According to the 12th-century Sunni scholar Ibn 'Asakir, there were various opportunities for female education in what is known as the Islamic Golden Age, he writes that women could study, earn ijazahs (religious degrees) and qualify as ulama and Islamic teachers.[48]:196, 198 Similarly, al-Sakhawi devotes one of the twelve volumes of his biographical dictionaryDaw al-Lami to female religious scholars between 700 and 1800 CE, giving information on 1,075 of them. [49] Women of prominent urban families were commonly educated in private settings and many of them received and later issued ijazas in hadith studies, calligraphy and poetry recitation.[50][51] Working women learned religious texts and practical skills primarily from each other, though they also received some instruction together with men in mosques and private homes.[50]

During the colonial era, until the early 20th century, there was a gender struggle among Muslims in the British empire; educating women was viewed as a prelude to social chaos, a threat to the moral order, and man's world was viewed as a source of Muslim identity.[52] Muslim women in British India, nevertheless, pressed for their rights independent of men; by the 1930s, 2.5 million girls had entered schools of which 0.5 million were Muslims.[52]

Jordanian school girls pictured reading in a public school. Jordan's female literacy rate was 92.9% in 2015, according to the CIA World Factbook.[53]

Literacy

In a 2013 statement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation noted that restricted access to education is among the challenges faced by girls and women in the developing world, including OIC member states.[54] UNICEF notes that out of 24 nations with less than 60% female primary enrollment rates, 17 were Islamic nations; more than half the adult population is illiterate in several Islamic countries, and the proportion reaches 70% among Muslim women.[55] UNESCO estimates that the literacy rate among adult women was about 50% or less in a number of Muslim-majority countries, including Morocco, Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Niger, Mali, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Chad.[56] Egypt had a women literacy rate of 64% in 2010, Iraq of 71% and Indonesia of 90%.[56] While literacy has been improving in Saudi Arabia since the 1970s, the overall female literacy rate in 2005 was 50%, compared to male literacy of 72%.[57]

A scene from a female-majority class at the Psychology Department of Uludağ University in Bursa, Turkey. In Turkey, 47.5% of staff at the top five universities are female, a higher proportion than for their equivalents in the United States (35.9%), Denmark (31%) and Japan (12.7%).[62]

In contrast, UNESCO notes that at 37% the share of female researchers in Arab states compares well with other regions;[63] in Turkey, the proportion of female university researchers is slightly higher (36%) than the average for the 27-member European Union as of 2012 (33%).[64] In Iran, women account for over 60% of university students.[65] Similarly, in Malaysia,[66] Algeria,[67] and in Saudi Arabia,[68] the majority of university students have been female in recent years, while in 2016 Emirati women constituted 76.8% of people enrolled at universities in the United Arab Emirates.[69] At the University of Jordan, which is Jordan's largest and oldest university, 65% of students were female in 2013.[70]

In a number of OIC member states, the ratio of women to men in tertiary education is exceptionally high. Qatar leads the world in this respect, having 6.66 females in higher education for every male as of 2015.[71] Other Muslim-majority states with notably more women university students than men include Kuwait, where 41% of females attend university compared with 18% of males;[71] Bahrain, where the ratio of women to men in tertiary education is 2.18:1;[71] Brunei Darussalam, where 33% of women enroll at university vis à vis 18% of men;[71] Tunisia, which has a women to men ratio of 1.62 in higher education; and Kyrgyzstan, where the equivalent ratio is 1.61.[71] Additionally, in Kazakhstan, there were 115 female students for every 100 male students in tertiary education in 1999; according to the World Bank, this ratio had increased to 144:100 by 2008.[72]

Some scholars[73][74] refer to verse 28:23 in the Quran and to Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife, a merchant before and after converting to Islam, as indications that Muslim women may undertake employment outside their homes.

And when he came to the water of Madyan, he found on it a group of men watering, and he found besides them two women keeping back (their flocks), he said: What is the matter with you? They said: We cannot water until the shepherds take away (their sheep) from the water, and our father is a very old man.

During medieval times, the labor force in Spanish Caliphate included women in diverse occupations and economic activities such as farming, construction workers, textile workers, managing slave girls, collecting taxes from prostitutes, as well as presidents of guilds, creditors, religious scholars.[80]

Patterns of women's employment vary throughout the Muslim world: as of 2005, 16% of Pakistani women were "economically active" (either employed, or unemployed but available to furnish labor), whereas 52% of Indonesian women were.[90] According to a 2012 World Economic Forum report[91] and other recent reports,[92] Islamic nations in the Middle East and North Africa region are increasing their creation of economic and employment opportunities for women; compared, however, to every other region in the world, the Middle East and North African region ranks lowest on economic participation, employment opportunity and the political empowerment of women. Ten countries with the lowest women labour force participation in the world – Jordan, Oman, Morocco, Iran, Turkey, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Syria – are Islamic countries, as are the four countries that have no female parliamentarians.[91]

Women are allowed to work in Islam, subject to certain conditions, such as if a woman is in financial need and her employment does not cause her to neglect her important role as a mother and wife,[73][93] it has been claimed that it is the responsibility of the Muslim community to organize work for women, so that she can do so in a Muslim cultural atmosphere, where her rights (as set out in the Quran) are respected.[73] Islamic law however, permits women to work in Islamic conditions,[73] such as the work not requiring the woman to violate Islamic law (e.g., serving alcohol), and that she maintain her modesty while she performs any work outside her home.

In some cases, when women have the right to work and are educated, women's job opportunities may in practice be unequal to those of men; in Egypt for example, women have limited opportunities to work in the private sector because women are still expected to put their role in the family first, which causes men to be seen as more reliable in the long term.[94][page needed] In Saudi Arabia, it is illegal for Saudi women to drive, serve in military and other professions with men.[95][page needed] It is becoming more common for Saudi Arabian women to procure driving licences from other Gulf Cooperation Council states such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.[96]

According to the International Business Report (2014) published by global accounting network Grant Thornton, Indonesia – which is the world's largest Muslim country by population – has ≥40% of senior business management positions occupied by women, a greater proportion than the United States (22%) and Denmark (14%).[97] Prominent female business executives in the Islamic world include Güler Sabancı, the CEO of the industrial and financial conglomerate Sabancı Holding;[98] Ümit Boyner, a non-executive director at Boyner Holding who was the chairwoman of TÜSİAD, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association, from 2010 to 2013;[99] Bernadette Ruth Irawati Setiady, the CEO of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk., the largest pharmaceutical company in the ASEAN trade bloc;[100] Atiek Nur Wahyuni, the director of Trans TV, a major free-to-air television station in Indonesia;[101] and Elissa Freiha, a founding partner of the UAE-based investment platform WOMENA.[102][103]

According to all schools of Islamic law, the injunctions of the sharī'ah of Islam apply to all Muslims, male and female, who have reached the age of maturity – and only to them.[28] All Muslims are in principle equal before the law,[104] the Qur'an especially emphasises that its injunctions concern both men and women in several verses where both are addressed clearly and in a distinct manner, such as in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb at 33:35 ('Verily, men who surrender unto God, and women who surrender...').

Most Muslim majority countries, and some Muslim minority countries, follow a mixed legal system, with positive laws and state courts, as well as sharia-based religious laws and religious courts,[105] those countries that use Sharia for legal matters involving women, adopt it mostly for personal law; however, a few Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen also have sharia-based criminal laws.[106]

According to Jan Michiel Otto, "[a]nthropological research shows that people in local communities often do not distinguish clearly whether and to what extent their norms and practices are based on local tradition, tribal custom, or religion."[107] In some areas, tribal practices such as vani, Ba'ad and "honor" killing remain an integral part of the customary legal processes involving Muslim women.[108][109] In turn, article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which reduces sentences for killing female relatives over adultery, and is commonly believed to be derived from Islamic law, was in fact borrowed from French criminal law during the Ottoman era.[110]

Other than applicable laws to Muslim women, there is gender-based variation in the process of testimony and acceptable forms of evidence in legal matters,[111][112] some Islamic jurists have held that certain types of testimony by women may not be accepted. In other cases, the testimony of two women equals that of one man.[111][112]

According to verse 4:32 of Islam's sacred text, both men and women have an independent economic position: 'For men is a portion of what they earn, and for women is a portion of what they earn. Ask God for His grace. God has knowledge of all things.'[113] Women therefore are at liberty to buy, sell, mortgage, lease, borrow or lend, and sign contracts and legal documents.[113] Additionally, women can donate money, act as trustees and set up a business or company,[113] these rights cannot be altered, irrespective of marital status.[113] When a woman is married, she legally has total control over the dower – the mahr or bridal gift, usually financial in nature, while the groom pays to the bride upon marriage – and retains this control in the event of divorce.[113][114]

Qur'anic principles, especially the teaching of zakāh or purification of wealth, encourage women to own, invest, save and distribute their earnings and savings according to their discretion.[113][page needed] These also acknowledge and enforce the right of women to participate in various economic activities.[113][page needed]

In contrast to many other cultures, a woman in Islam has always been entitled as per sharī'ah law to keep her family name and not take her husband's name.[115] Therefore, a Muslim woman has traditionally always been known by the name of her family as an indication of her individuality and her own legal identity: there is no historically practiced process of changing the names of women be they married, divorced or widowed,[115] with the spread of modern, western-style state bureaucracies across the Islamic world from the nineteenth century onwards, this latter convention has come under increasing pressure, and it is now commonplace for Muslim women to change their names upon marriage.

"For men is a share from what the parents and near relatives leave, and for women is a share from what the parents and near relative leave from less from it or more, a legal share."

(Al-Quran 4:7)

Bernard Lewis says that classical Islamic civilization granted free Muslim women relatively more property rights than women in the West, even as it sanctified three basic inequalities between master and slave, man and woman, believer and unbeliever.[116] Even in cases where property rights were granted in the West, they were very limited and covered only upper class women,[117] over time, while women's rights have improved elsewhere, those in many Muslim-dominated countries have remained comparatively restricted.[118][119]

Women's property rights in the Quran are from parents and near relatives. A woman, according to Islamic tradition, does not have to give her pre-marriage possessions to her husband and receive a mahr (dower) which she then owns.[120] Furthermore, any earnings that a woman receives through employment or business, after marriage, is hers to keep and need not contribute towards family expenses, this is because, once the marriage is consummated, in exchange for tamkin (sexual submission), a woman is entitled to nafaqa – namely, the financial responsibility for reasonable housing, food and other household expenses for the family, including the spouse, falls entirely on the husband.[75][76] In traditional Islamic law, a woman is also not responsible for the upkeep of the home and may demand payment for any work she does in the domestic sphere.[121]

Property rights enabled some Muslim women to possess substantial assets and fund charitable endowments; in mid-sixteenth century Istanbul, 36.8% of charitable endowments (awqāf) were founded by women.[122] In eighteenth century Cairo, 126 out of 496 charitable foundations (25.4%) were endowed by women.[123] Between 1770 and 1840, 241 out of 468 or 51% of charitable endowments in Aleppo were founded by women.[124]

The Qur'an grants inheritance rights to wife, daughter, and sisters of the deceased.[125] However, women's inheritance rights to her father's property are unequal to her male siblings, and varies based on number of sisters, stepsisters, stepbrothers, if mother is surviving, and other claimants, the rules of inheritance are specified by a number of Qur'an verses, including Surah "Baqarah" (chapter 2) verses 180 and 240; Surah "Nisa(h)" (chapter 4) verses 7–11, 19 and 33; and Surah "Maidah" (chapter 5), verses 106–108. Three verses in Surah "Nisah" (chapter 4), verses 11, 12 and 176, describe the share of close relatives, the religious inheritance laws for women in Islam are different from inheritance laws for non-Muslim women under common laws.[126]

Zina is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse.[127] According to traditional jurisprudence, zina can include adultery (of married parties), fornication (of unmarried parties), prostitution, bestiality, and according to some scholars, rape.[127] The Quran disapproved of the promiscuity prevailing in Arabia at the time, and several verses refer to unlawful sexual intercourse, including one that prescribes the punishment of 100 lashes for fornicators.[128] Zina thus belong to the class of hadd (pl. hudud) crimes which have Quranically specified punishments.[128]

Although stoning for zina is not mentioned in the Quran, all schools of traditional jurisprudence agreed on the basis of hadith that it is to be punished by stoning if the offender is muhsan (adult, free, Muslim, and having been married), with some extending this punishment to certain other cases and milder punishment prescribed in other scenarios.[128][127] The offenders must have acted of their own free will.[128] According to traditional jurisprudence, zina must be proved by testimony of four adult, pious male eyewitnesses to the actual act of penetration, or a confession repeated four times and not retracted later.[128][127] Any Muslim who accuses another Muslim of zina but fails to produce the required witnesses commits the crime of false accusation (qadhf, القذف).[129][130][131] Some contend that this sharia requirement of four eyewitnesses severely limits a man's ability to prove zina charges against women, a crime often committed without eyewitnesses.[129][132][133] The Maliki legal school also allows an unmarried woman's pregnancy to be used as evidence, but the punishment can be averted by a number of legal "semblances" (shubuhat), such as existence of an invalid marriage contract,[128] these requirements made zina virtually impossible to prove in practice.[127]

History

Aside from "a few rare and isolated" instances from the pre-modern era and several recent cases, there is no historical record of stoning for zina being legally carried out.[127] Zina became a more pressing issue in modern times, as Islamist movements and governments employed polemics against public immorality,[127] after sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by European-inspired statutes in the modern era, in recent decades several countries passed legal reforms that incorporated elements of hudud laws into their legal codes.[134] Iran witnessed several highly publicized stonings for zina in the aftermath the Islamic revolution;[127] in Nigeria local courts have passed several stoning sentences, all of which were overturned on appeal or left unenforced.[135] While the harsher punishments of the Hudood Ordinances have never been applied in Pakistan,[136] in 2005 Human Rights Watch reported that over 200,000 zina cases against women were underway at various levels in Pakistan's legal system.[137]

Rape is considered a serious sexual crime in Islam, and can be defined in Islamic law as: "Forcible illegal sexual intercourse by a man with a woman who is not legally married to him, without her free will and consent".[138] Sharī'ah law makes a distinction between adultery and rape and applies different rules.[139] According to Professor Oliver Leaman, the required testimony of four male witnesses having seen the actual penetration applies to illicit sexual relations (i.e. adultery and fornication), not to rape.[140] The requirements for proof of rape are less stringent:

Rape charges can be brought and a case proven based on the sole testimony of the victim, providing that circumstantial evidence supports the allegations, it is these strict criteria of proof which lead to the frequent observation that where injustice against women does occur, it is not because of Islamic law. It happens either due to misinterpretation of the intricacies of the Sharia laws governing these matters, or cultural traditions; or due to corruption and blatant disregard of the law, or indeed some combination of these phenomena.[140]

In the case of rape, the adult male perpetrator (i.e. rapist) of such an act is to receive the ḥadd zinā, but the non-consenting or invalidly consenting female (i.e. rape victim) is to be regarded as innocent of zinā and relieved of the ḥadd punishment.[141]

Modern criminal laws

Rape laws in a number of Muslim-majority countries have been a subject of controversy; in some of these countries, such as Morocco, the penal code is neither based on Islamic law nor significantly influenced by it,[142] while in other cases, such as Pakistan's Hudood Ordinances, the code incorporates elements of Islamic law.

In Afghanistan, Dubai, Morocco and Pakistan, some women who made accusations of rape have been charged with fornication or adultery.[143][144][145][146] This law was amended in Pakistan in 2006.[147]

In Qur'an, surah 2:182 equates two women as substitute for one man, in matters requiring witnesses.[153]

O ye who believe! When ye contract debt with each other for a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing. Let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties: let not the scribe refuse to write: as Allah has taught him, so let him write. Let him who incurs the liability dictate, but let him fear His Lord Allah, and not diminish aught of what he owes. If they party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable himself to dictate, let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. The witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (For evidence). Disdain not to reduce to writing (your contract) for a future period, whether it be small or big: it is juster in the sight of Allah, More suitable as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves but if it be a transaction which ye carry out on the spot among yourselves, there is no blame on you if ye reduce it not to writing.

In Islamic law, testimony (shahada) is defined as attestation of knowledge with regard to a right of a second party against a third, it exists alongside other forms of evidence, such as the oath, confession, and circumstantial evidence.[154]

In classical Shari'a criminal law men and women are treated differently with regard to evidence and bloodmoney, the testimony of a man has twice the strength of that of a woman. However, with regard to hadd offences and retaliation, the testimonies of female witnesses are not admitted at all.[112] A number of Muslim-majority countries, particularly in the Arab world, presently treat a woman's testimony as half of a man's in certain cases, mainly in family disputes adjudicated based on Islamic law.[155]

Classical commentators commonly explained the unequal treatment of testimony by asserting that women's nature made them more prone to error than men. Muslim modernists have followed the Egyptian reformer Muhammad Abduh in viewing the relevant scriptural passages as conditioned on the different gender roles and life experiences that prevailed at the time rather than women's innately inferior mental capacities, making the rule not generally applicable in all times and places.[156]

Acceptance of domestic violence by women in some Islamic countries, according to UNICEF (2013).[157]

Men have authority over women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard, but those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance – [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand. If you fear a breach between them then appoint an arbiter from his folks and an arbiter from her folks; if they desire reconciliation God will affect between them; indeed God is All-knowing All-aware (Al-Quran, An-Nisa, 34-35)

The word "strike" in this verse which is understood as "beating" or "hitting" in English – w'aḍribūhunna – is derived from the Arabic root word ḍaraba, which has over fifty derivations and definitions, including "to separate', "to oscillate" and "to play music".[158] Even within the Qur'an itself, the most common use[where?] of this word is not with the definition "to beat", but as verb phrases which provide a number of other meanings, including several which are more plausible within the context of 4:34, such as "to leave [your wife in the event of disloyalty]", and "to draw them lovingly towards you [following temporarily not sleeping with them in protest at their disloyal behaviour]".[159]

Sharī'ah law addresses domestic violence through the concept of darar or harm that encompasses several types of abuse against a spouse, including physical abuse, the laws concerning darar state that if a woman is being harmed in her marriage, she can have it annulled: physically assaulting a wife violates the marriage contract and is grounds for immediate divorce.[160][unreliable source?]

Sharī'ah court records from the Ottoman period illustrate the ability of women to seek justice when subject to physical abuse: as a notable 1687 case from Aleppo demonstrates, courts gave out penalties such as corporal punishment to abusive husbands.[160]

A sixteenth-century fatwa issued by the Şeyhülislam (Shaykh al-Islam, the highest religious authority in the jurisdiction) of the Ottoman Empire stated that in the event of a judge becoming aware of serious spousal abuse, he has the legal authority to prevent the husband hurting his wife "by whatever means possible", including ordering their separation (at the request of the wife).[160]

In recent years, numerous prominent scholars in the tradition of Orthodox Islam have issued fatwas (legal opinions) against domestic violence, these include the Shī'ite scholar Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who promulgated a fatwa on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in 2007, which states that Islam forbids men from exercising any form of violence against women;[161] Shakyh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, the Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, who co-authored The Prohibition of Domestic Violence in Islam (2011) with Dr. Homayra Ziad;[162] and Cemalnur Sargut, the president of the Turkish Women's Cultural Association (TÜRKKAD), who has stated that men who engage in domestic violence "in a sense commit polytheism (shirk)": "Such people never go on a diet to curb the desires of their ego...[Conversely] In his Mathnawi Rumi says love for women is because of witnessing Allah as reflected in the mirror of their being. According to tasawwuf, woman is the light of Allah's beauty shed onto this earth. Again in [the] Mathanawi Rumi says a man who is wise and fine-spirited is understanding and compassionate towards a woman, and never wants to hurt or injure her."[163]

Some scholars[164][165] claim Islamic law, such as verse 4:34 of Quran, allows and encourages domestic violence against women, when a husband suspects nushuz (disobedience, disloyalty, rebellion, ill conduct) in his wife.[166] Other scholars claim wife beating, for nashizah, is not consistent with modern perspectives of Quran.[167]

Some conservative translations suggest Muslim husbands are permitted to use light force on their wives, and others claim permissibility to strike, hit, chastise, or beat,[168][169] the relationship between Islam and domestic violence is disputed by some Islamic scholars.[168][170]

The Lebanese educator and journalist 'Abd al-Qadir al-Maghribi argued that perpetrating acts of domestic violence goes against Muḥammad's own example and injunction; in his 1928 essay, Muḥammad and Woman, al-Maghribi said: "He [Muḥammad] prohibited a man from beating his wife and noted that beating was not appropriate for the marital relationship between them".[171] Muḥammad underlined the moral and logical inconsistency in beating one's wife during the day and then praising her at night as a prelude to conjugal relations,[171] the Austrian scholar and translator of the Qur'an Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) said: It is evident from many authentic traditions that the Prophet himself intensely detested the idea of beating one's wife...According to another tradition, he forbade the beating of any woman with the words, "Never beat God's handmaidens."'[172]

In practice, the legal doctrine of many Islamic nations, in deference to Sharia law, have refused to include, consider or prosecute cases of domestic violence, limiting legal protections available to Muslim women.[173][174][175][176] In 2010, for example, the highest court of United Arab Emirates (Federal Supreme Court) considered a lower court's ruling, and upheld a husband's right to "chastise" his wife and children with physical violence. Article 53 of the United Arab Emirates' penal code acknowledges the right of a "chastisement by a husband to his wife and the chastisement of minor children" so long as the assault does not exceed the limits prescribed by Sharia;[177] in Lebanon, as many as three-quarters of all Lebanese women have suffered physical abuse at the hands of husbands or male relatives at some point in their lives.[178][179] In Afghanistan, over 85% of women report domestic violence;[180] other nations with very high rates of domestic violence and limited legal rights include Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.[181] In some Islamic countries such as Turkey, where legal protections against domestic violence have been enacted, serial domestic violence by husband and other male members of her family is mostly ignored by witnesses and accepted by women without her getting legal help, according to a Government of Turkey report.[182]

Turkey was the first country in Europe to ratify (on 14 March 2012) the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence,[183] which is known as the Istanbul Convention because it was first opened for signature in Turkey's largest city (on 11 May 2011).[184] Three other European countries with a significant (≥c.20%) Muslim population – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro – have also ratified the convention, while Macedonia is a signatory to the document.[185] The aim of the convention is to create a Europe free from violence against women and domestic violence,[186] on 10 December 2014, the Serbian-Turkish pop star Emina Jahović released a video clip entitled Ne plašim se ("I'm not scared") to help raise awareness of domestic violence in the Balkans. Ne plašim se highlighted the link between alcohol consumption and domestic abuse. The film's release date was timed to coincide with the United Nations' Human Rights Day.[187]

The Taj Mahal near Agra in India was commissioned by the Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658) in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and completed in 1648.[189] It is studded with numerous inscriptions, almost all of which are from the Qur'an.[190] Scholars have suggested that the Taj Mahal complex is a representation of paradise.[190]

In traditional Islamic societies, love between men and women was widely celebrated,[191] and both the popular and classical literature of the Muslim world is replete with works on this theme. Throughout Islamic history, intellectuals, theologians and mystics have extensively discussed the nature and characteristics of romantic love ('ishq);[188] in its most common intellectual interpretation of the Islamic Golden Age, ishq refers to an irresistible desire to obtain possession of the beloved, expressing a deficiency that the lover must remedy in order to reach perfection.[188] Like the perfections of the soul and the body, love thus admits of hierarchical degrees, but its underlying reality is the aspiration to the beauty which God manifested in the world when he created Adam in his own image.[188]

The Arab love story of Lāyla and Majnūn was arguably more widely known amongst Muslims than that of Romeo and Juliet in (Northern) Europe,[191] while Jāmī's retelling of the story of Yusuf (Joseph) and Zulaykhā — based upon the narrative of Surat Yusuf in the Qur'an — is a seminal text in the Persian, Urdu and Bengali literary canons. The growth of affection (mawadda) into passionate love (ishq) received its most probing and realistic analysis in The Ring of the Dove by the Andalusian scholar Ibn Hazm.[188] The theme of romantic love continues to be developed in the modern and even postmodern fiction from the Islamic world: The Black Book (1990) by the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk is a nominal detective story with extensive meditations on mysticism and obsessive love, while another Turkish writer, Elif Şafak, intertwines romantic love and Sufism in her 2010 book The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi.[192]

In Islamic mysticism or Sufism, romantic love is viewed as a metaphysical metaphor for the love of God. However, the importance of love extends beyond the metaphorical: ibnʿArabī, who is widely recognised as the 'greatest of spiritual masters [of Sufism]', posited that for a man, sex with a woman is the occasion for experiencing God's 'greatest self-disclosure' (the position is similar vice versa):[193]

The most intense and perfect contemplation of God is through women, and the most intense union is the conjugal act.'[194]

This emphasis on the sublimity of the conjugal act holds true for both this world and the next: the fact that Islam considers sexual relationships one of the ultimate pleasures of paradise is well-known; moreover, there is no suggestion that this is for the sake of producing children.[195] Accordingly, (and in common with civilisations such as the Chinese, Indian and Japanese), the Islamic world has historically generated significant works of erotic literature and technique, and many centuries before such a genre became culturally acceptable in the West: Richard Burton's substantially ersatz 1886 translation of The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight, a fifteenth-century sex manual authored by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Nafzawi, was labelled as being 'for private circulation only' owing to the puritanical mores and corresponding censorship laws of Victorian England.[196]

Particularly within the context of religion – a domain which is often associated with sexual asceticism – Muḥammad is notable for emphasising the importance of loving women. According to a famous ḥadīth, Muḥammad stated: "Three things of this world of yours were made lovable to me: women, perfume – and the coolness of my eye was placed in the ritual prayer",[197] this is enormously significant because in the Islamic faith, Muḥammad is by definition the most perfect human being and the most perfect male: his love for women shows that the perfection of the human state is connected with love for other human beings, not simply with love for God.[197] More specifically, it illustrates that male perfection lies in women and, by implication, female perfection in men.[197] Consequently, the love Muḥammad had for women is obligatory on all men, since he is the model of perfection that must be emulated.[198]

There is a Hadith quoting,

"There is nothing better for two who love each other then marriage."[199]

Prominent figures in Islamic mysticism have elaborated on this theme. Ibn 'Arabī reflected on the above ḥadīth as follows: "….he [Muḥammad] mentioned women [as one of three things from God's world made lovable to him]. Do you think that which would take him far from his Lord was made lovable to him? Of course not. That which would bring him near to his Lord was made lovable to him.

"He who knows the measure of women and their mystery will not renounce love for them. On the contrary, one of the perfections of the gnostic is love for them, for this is a prophetic heritage and a divine love, for the Prophet said, '[women] were made lovable to me.' Hence he ascribed his love for them only to God. Ponder this chapter – you will see wonders!"[198]

Ibn 'Arabī held that witnessing God in the female human form is the most perfect mode of witnessing: if the Prophet Muḥammad was made to love women, it is because women reflect God.[200]Rūmī came to a similar conclusion: "She [woman] is the radiance of God, she is not your beloved. She is the Creator – you could say that she is not created."[200][201]

According to Gai Eaton, there are several other ḥadīths on the same theme which underline Muḥammad's teaching on the importance of loving women:

"You should cherish your woman from the perfume of her hair to the tips of her toes."[202]

Both the concept and the reality of beauty are of exceptional importance in the Islamic religion: beauty (iḥsān, also translated as “virtue”, “excellence” and “making beautiful”) is the third element of the canonical definition of Islam after belief (īmān) and practice (islām),[205] at 53:31,[206] the Qur'ān emphasises the importance of avoiding ugly actions, while at 10:26 it states: “Those who do what is beautiful will receive the most beautiful and increase [or more than this].”[206]

Female beauty is a central theme in Islam, which regards it as “the most direct visible manifestation of God's beauty, gentleness, mercy and forgiveness”,[207] this theme is developed most famously in Islamic mysticism or Sufism. In her work The Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Annemarie Schimmel records the position of Ibn ʿArabī – who is generally regarded as the greatest Sufi – on “perceiving the divine through the medium of female beauty and seeing the female as the true revelation of God's mercy and creativity”[208] as follows:

“The closing chapter of the Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, that on the Prophet Muhammad, centers around the famous tradition according to which the Prophet was given a love for perfumes and women and joy in prayer. Thus, Ibn 'Arabī could defend the idea that 'love of women belongs to the perfection of the gnostics, for it is inherited from the Prophet and is a divine love' (R 480). Woman reveals, for Ibn Arabī, the secret of the compassionate God. The grammatical fact that the word dhāt, 'essence', is feminine offers Ibn Arabī different methods to discover this feminine element in God.”[208]

The metaphysical and cosmological significance of marriage within Islam – particularly within Sufism or Islamic mysticism – is difficult to overstate, the relationship and interplay between male and female is viewed as nothing less than that between heaven (represented by the husband) and earth (symbolised by the wife).[209][additional citation(s) needed] Because of her beauty and virtue, the earth is eminently lovable: heaven marries her not simply out of duty, but for pleasure and joy.[209] Marriage and sexual intercourse are not merely human phenomena, but the universal power of productivity found within every level of existence: sex within marriage is the supreme instance of witnessing God in the full splendour of His self-disclosure.[210][additional citation(s) needed]

Marriage is the central institution of family life and society, and therefore the central institution of Islam,[211] on a technical level, it is accomplished through a contract which is confirmed by the bride's reception of a dowry or mahr, and by the witnessing of the bride's consent to the marriage.[212] A woman has the freedom to propose to a man of her liking, either orally or in writing.[213] Muḥammad himself was the subject of a spoken marriage proposal from a Muslim lady which was worded "I present myself to you", although ultimately Muḥammad solemnized her marriage to another man.[214]

Within the marriage contract itself, the bride has the right to stipulate her own conditions,[215] these conditions usually pertain to such issues as marriage terms (e.g. that her husband may not take another wife), and divorce terms (e.g. that she may dissolve the union at her own initiative if she deems it necessary).[215] In addition, dowries – one on marriage, and another deferred in case of divorce – must be specified and written down; they should also be of substance.[215] The dowry is the exclusive property of the wife and should not be given away, neither to her family nor her relatives.[215] According to the Qur'an (at 4:2), the wife may freely choose to give part of their dowry to the husband.[215] Fiqh doctrine says a woman's property, held exclusively in her name cannot be appropriated by her husband, brother or father,[216] for many centuries, this stood in stark contrast with the more limited property rights of women in (Christian) Europe.[216] Accordingly, Muslim women in contemporary America are sometimes shocked to find that, even though they were careful to list their assets as separate, these can be considered joint assets after marriage.[216]

When agreement to the marriage has been expressed and witnessed, those present recite the fātiḥah prayer (the opening chapter of the Qur'an).[212] Normally, marriages are not contracted in mosques but in private homes or at the offices of a judge (qāḍi),[212] the format and content of the ceremony (if there is one) is often defined by national or tribal customs, as are the celebrations ('urs) that accompany it.[212] In some parts of the Islamic world these may include processions in which the bride gift is put on display; receptions where the bride is seen adorned in elaborate costumes and jewellery; and ceremonial installation of the bride in the new house to which she may be carried in a litter (a type of carriage).[212] The groom may ride through the streets on a horse, followed by his friends and well-wishers, and there is always a feast called the walīmah.[212]

In contrast to the Western and Orient world where divorce was relatively uncommon until modern times, divorce was a more common occurrence in certain parts of the late medieval Muslim world; in the Mamluk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire, the rate of divorce was high.[217][218] The work of the scholar and historian Al-Sakhawi (1428-1497) on the lives of women show that the marriage pattern of Egyptian and Syrian urban society in the fifteenth century was greatly influenced by easy divorce, and practically untouched by polygamy.[219][220] Earlier Egyptian documents from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries also showed a similar but more extreme pattern: in a sample of 273 women, 118 (45%) married a second or third time.[220] Edward Lane's careful observation of urban Egypt in the early nineteenth century suggests that the same regime of frequent divorce and rare polygamy was still applicable in these last days of traditional society;[220] in the early 20th century, some villages in western Java and the Malay peninsula had divorce rates as high as 70%.[217]

Marriage customs vary in Muslim dominated countries. Islamic law allows polygamy where a Muslim man can be married to four wives at the same time, under restricted conditions,[221] but it is not widespread,[222] as the Sharia demands that polygamous men treat all wives equally, classical Islamic scholars opined that it is preferable to avoid polygamy altogether, so one does not even come near the chance of committing the forbidden deed of dealing unjustly between the wives.[223] Most modern Muslims view the practice of polygamy as allowed, but unusual and not recommended;[224] in some countries, polygamy is restricted by new family codes, for example the Moudawwana in Morocco.[225] Some countries allow Muslim men to enter into additional temporary marriages, beyond the four allowed marriages, such as the practice of sigheh marriages in Iran,[226] and Nikah Mut'ah elsewhere in some Middle East countries.[227][228]

A marriage of pleasure, where a man pays a sum of money to a woman or her family in exchange for a temporary spousal relationship, is found and considered legal among Shia sect of Islam, for example in Iran after 1979. Temporary marriages are forbidden among Sunni sect of Islam,[229] among Shia, the number of temporary marriages can be unlimited, for a duration that is less than an hour to few months, recognized with an official temporary marriage certificate, and divorce is unnecessary because the temporary marriage automatically expires on the date and time specified on the certificate.[230] Payment to the woman by the man is mandatory, in every temporary marriage and considered as mahr,[231][232] its practitioners cite sharia law as permitting the practise. Women's rights groups have condemned it as a form of legalized prostitution.[233][234]

Consanguineous endogamous marriages are common for women in Islam.[237] Over 250 million women of Islamic faith are in endogamous consanguineous marriages, typically with first cousin marriages,[238][239] over 65% of all marriages in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are endogamous and consanguineous arranged marriages; more than 40% of all marriages are endogamous and consanguineous in Mauritania, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Kuwait, UAE and Oman.[238][240]

Endogamy is common in Islamic countries, the observed endogamy is primarily consanguineous marriages, where the bride and the groom share a biological grandparent or other near ancestor.[241][242] The most common observed marriages are first cousin marriages, followed by second cousin marriages. Consanguineous endogamous marriages are most common for women in Muslim communities in the Middle East, North Africa and Islamic Central Asia.[243][244] About 1 in 3 of all marriages in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan are first cousin marriages; while overall consanguineous endogamous marriages exceed 65 to 80% in various Islamic populations of the Middle East, North Africa and Islamic Central Asia.[242][245]

Do not marry women your fathers married to except that has passed; Indeed it was lewdness, disobedience and bad way. Prohibited to you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, brother's daughters, sister's daughters, your suckling-mothers, your sisters from suckling, mothers of your women, your stepdaughters in your guardianship from your women you have entered into them but if you have not entered into them then there is no blame on you, women of your sons from your loins and that you add two sisters (in a wedlock) except that has passed; surely God is All-forgiving and all-merciful.

Some marriages are forbidden between Muslim women and Muslim men, according to sharia;[246] in the Quran, SurahAn-Nisa gives a list of forbidden marriages.[Quran4:22] Examples include marrying one's stepson, biological son, biological father, biological brother, biological sibling's son, biological uncle, milk son or milk brother she has nursed, husband of her biological daughter, and a stepfather who has had sexual relations with her biological mother and father-in-law.[247][248] There are disputes between Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanabalis schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence on whether and which such marriages are irregular but not void if already in place (fasid), and which are void (batil) marriages.[249]

Child marriage, which was once a globally accepted phenomenon, has come to be discouraged in most countries, but it persists to some extent in most parts of the Muslim world.[250] Islam is one of several major faiths whose teachings have been used to justify marriage of girls.[251]

The age of marriage in Islam for women varies with country. Traditionally, Islam has permitted marriage of girls below the age of 10, because Sharia considers practices of Muhammad as a basis for Islamic law. According to Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, the two Sunni hadiths, Muhammed married Aisha, his third wife when she was 6, and consummated the marriage when she reached the age of 9 or 10. (This version of events is rejected by Shia Muslims.)[252][253]

Narrated 'Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his passing away).

Some Islamic scholars suggest that it is not the calendar age that matters, rather it is the biological age of the girl that determines when she can be married under Islamic law. According to these Islamic scholars, marriageable age in Islam is when a girl has reached sexual maturity, as determined by her nearest male guardian; this age can be, claim these Islamic scholars, less than 10 years, or 12, or another age depending on each girl.[250][254]

Some clerics and conservative elements of Muslim communities in Yemen,[255][256] Saudi Arabia,[257] India,[258][259] Bangladesh, Pakistan,[260] Indonesia,[261] Egypt,[262] Nigeria[263] and elsewhere have insisted that it is their Islamic right to marry girls below age 15.[264]

According to sharī'ah law, it is legal for a Muslim man to marry a Christian or Jewish woman, or a woman of any of the divinely-revealed religions.[212] A female does not have to convert from Christianity or Judaism to Islam in order to marry a Muslim male.[265] While sharī'ah law does not allow a Muslim woman to marry outside her religion,[212] a significant number of non-Muslim men have entered into the Islamic faith in order to satisfy this aspect of the religious law where it is in force,[212] with deepening globalisation, it has become more common for Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men who remain outside Islam.[212][266] These marriages meet with varying degrees of social approval, depending on the milieu.[212] However, conversions of non-Muslim men to Islam for the purpose of marriage are still numerous, in part because the procedure for converting to Islam is relatively expeditious.[267]

Islamic law and practice recognize gender disparity, in part, by assigning separate rights and obligations to a woman in married life. A woman's space is in the private sphere of the home, and a man's is in the public sphere.[268][269] Women must primarily fulfill marital and maternal responsibilities,[270] whereas men are financial and administrative stewards of their families.[268][271] According to Sayyid Qutb, the Qur'an "gives the man the right of guardianship or superiority over the family structure in order to prevent dissension and friction between the spouses, the equity of this system lies in the fact that God both favoured the man with the necessary qualities and skills for the 'guardianship' and also charged him with the duty to provide for the structure's upkeep."[272]

The Quran considers the love between men and women to be a Sign of God.[Quran30:21] This said, the Quran also permits men to first admonish, then lightly tap or push and even beat her, if he suspects nushuz (disobedience, disloyalty, rebellion, ill conduct) in his wife.[166][Quran4:34][273]

In Islam, there is no coverture, an idea central in European, American as well as in non-Islamic Asian common law, and the legal basis for the principle of marital property. An Islamic marriage is a contract between a man and a woman. A Muslim man and woman do not merge their legal identity upon marriage, and do not have rights over any shared marital property, the assets of the man before the marriage, and earned by him after the marriage, remain his during marriage and in case of a divorce.[274] A divorce under Islamic law does not require redistribution of property. Rather, each spouse walks away from the marriage with his or her individual property. Divorcing Muslim women who did not work outside their home after marriage do not have a claim on the collective wealth of the couple under Islamic law, except for deferred mahr – an amount of money or property the man agrees to pay her before the woman signs the marriage contract.[93][275]

Quran states

And for you is half of what your wives left, if they do not have child; and if they have child yours is one-fourth of what they left; after the will they have bequeteth or debt. And for them is one fourth of what you leave, if you do not have child; but if you have child theirs is one-eighth; after the will you have bequeteth or debt. And if the man or woman, inherited from, is Kalalah(childless) and; he has brother or sister, for each of them is one-sixth; And if they are more than it they will share one-third; after the will he bequetteth or untroubling debt. It is ordianance from God; and God is All-knowing and Allbearing.

{Al-Quran 4:12}

In case of husband's death, a portion of his property is inherited by his wives according to a combination of sharia laws. If the man did not leave any children, his wives receive a quarter of the property and the remaining three quarters is shared by the blood relatives of the husband (for example, parents, siblings).[276] If he had children from any of his wives, his wives receive an eighth of the property and the rest is for his surviving children and parents,[276] the wives share as inheritance a part of movable property of her late husband, but they do not share anything from immovable property[citation needed] such as land, real estate, farm or such value. A woman's deferred mahr and the dead husband's outstanding debts are paid before any inheritance is applied.[277] Sharia mandates that inheritance include male relatives of the dead person, that a daughter receive half the inheritance as a son, and a widow receives less than her daughters.[277][278][better source needed]

In Islam, a Muslim woman can only have sex after her "nikah" – a proper marriage contract – with one Muslim man; sex is permitted to her only with her husband.[129][279][280] The woman's husband, may however, marry and have sex with more than one Muslim woman, as well as have sex with non-Muslim slaves.[130][279][281] According to Quran and Sahih Muslim, two primary sources of Sharia, Islam permits only vaginal sex.[282]

(…) "If he likes he may (have intercourse) being on the back or in front of her, but it should be through one opening (vagina)."

There is disagreement among Islamic scholars on proper interpretation of Islamic law on permissible sex between a husband and wife, with claims that non-vaginal sex within a marriage is disapproved but not forbidden.[282][283][284] Anal intercourse and sex during menstruation are prohibited, as is violence and force against a partner's will.[285] However, these are the only restrictions; as the Qur'an says at 2:223 (Sūratu l-Baqarah): 'Your women are your fields; go to your women as you wish'.[285]

After sex, as well as menstruation, Islam requires men and women to do ghusl (major ritual washing with water, ablutions), and in some Islamic communities xoslay (prayers seeking forgiveness and purification), as sex and menstruation are considered some of the causes that makes men and women religiously impure (najis).[286][287] Some Islamic jurists suggest touching and foreplay, without any penetration, may qualify wudu (minor ritual washing) as sufficient form of religiously required ablution.[288] Muslim men and women must also abstain from sex during a ritual fast, and during all times while on a pilgrimage to Mecca, as sexual act, touching of sexual parts and emission of sexual bodily fluids are considered ritually dirty.[289]

Sexual intercourse is not allowed to a Muslim woman during menstruation, postpartum period, during fasting and certain religious activities, disability and in iddah after divorce or widowhood. Homosexual relations and same sex marriages are forbidden to women in Islam;[283] in vitro fertilization (IVF) is acceptable in Islam; but ovum donation along with sperm donation, embryo donation and child adoption are prohibited by Islam.[282] These marriages meet with varying degrees of social approval, depending on the milieu,[290][291] some debated fatwas from Shia sect of Islam, however, allow third party participation.[292][293]

Islam requires both husband and wife/wives to meet their conjugal duties. Religious qadis (judges) have admonished the man or women who fail to meet these duties.[294]

A high value is placed on female chastity and exhibitionism is prohibited.[295]

A poster for a campaign against female genital mutilation ('FGM') in Christian-majority Uganda. In the African states of Tanzania, Nigeria and Niger, FGM is more prevalent amongst Christians than Muslims.[296][297]

There is no mention of female circumcision – let alone other forms of female genital mutilation – in the Qur'an. Furthermore, Muḥammad did not subject any of his daughters to this practice, which is itself of real significance as it does not form part of his spoken or acted example.[298] Moreover, the origins of female circumcision are not Islamic: it is first thought to have been practiced in ancient Egypt.[299] Alternatively, it has been suggested that the practice may be an old African puberty rite that was passed on to Egypt by cultural diffusion.[300]

Notwithstanding these facts, there is a belief amongst some Muslims – particularly though not entirely exclusively in (sub-Saharan) Africa – that female circumcision (specifically the cutting of the prepuce or hood of the clitoris) is religiously vindicated by the existence of a handful of ḥadīths which apparently recommend it.[299] However, these ḥadīths are generally regarded as inauthentic, unreliable and weak, and therefore as having no legislative foundation and/or practical application.[301]

In answering the question of how "Islamic" female circumcision is, Haifaa A. Jawad – an academic specialising in Islamic thought and the author of The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach – has concluded that "the practice has no Islamic foundation whatsoever. It is nothing more than an ancient custom which has been falsely assimilated to the Islamic tradition, and with the passage of time it has been presented and accepted (in some Muslim countries) as an Islamic injunction."[302] Jawad notes that the argument which states that there is an indirect correlation between Islam and female circumcision fails to explain why female circumcision is not practiced in much of the Islamic world, and conversely is practiced in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Peru.[303][304]

The French intellectual, journalist and translator Renée Saurel observed that female circumcision and FGM more generally directly contradict Islam's sacred text: "The Koran, contrary to Christianity and Judaism, permits and recommends that the woman be given physical and psychological pleasure, pleasure found by both partners during the act of love. Forcibly split, torn, and severed tissues are neither conducive to sensuality nor to the blessed feeling given and shared when participating in the quest for pleasure and the escape from pain."[305]

The Egyptian feminist Nawal El-Saadawi reasons that the creation of the clitoris per se is a direct Islamic argument against female circumcision: "If religion comes from God, how can it order man to cut off an organ created by Him as long as that organ is not diseased or deformed? God does not create the organs of the body haphazardly without a plan. It is not possible that He should have created the clitoris in woman's body only in order that it be cut off at an early stage in life, this is a contradiction into which neither true religion nor the Creator could possibly fall. If God has created the clitoris as a sexually sensitive organ, whose sole function seems to be the procurement of sexual pleasure for women, it follows that He also considers such pleasure for women as normal and legitimate, and therefore as an integral part of mental health."[306]

Sheikh Abbas el Hocine Bencheikh, a diplomat and Rector of the L'institut Musulman at the Grande Mosquée de Paris, pointed to the total lack of Islamic theological justification for female circumcision: "If circumcision for the man (though not compulsory) has an aesthetic and hygienic purpose, there is no existing religious Islamic text of value to be considered in favour of female excision, as proven by the fact that this practice is totally non-existent in most of the Islamic countries."[301]

Mahmud Shaltut, the former Sheikh of Al-Azhar in Cairo – one of the most important religious offices in Sunni Islam – also stated that female circumcision has no theological basis: "Islamic legislation provides a general principle, namely that should meticulous and careful examination of certain issues prove that it is definitely harmful or immoral, then it should be legitimately stopped to put an end to this damage or immorality. Therefore, since the harm of excision has been established, excision of the clitoris of females is not a mandatory obligation, nor is it a Sunnah."[306]

In the twenty-first century, a number of high-ranking religious offices within the OIC have urged the cessation of all forms of FGM:

A 2006 international conference convened by Egypt's Dar al ifta – an influential body which issues legal opinions on Islamic law and jurisprudence – concluded "that the [female genital] mutilation presently practised in some parts of Egypt, Africa and elsewhere represents a deplorable custom which finds no justification in the authoritative sources of Islam, the Qur'an and the practice of the Prophet Muḥammad...all measures must be taken to put a halt to this unacceptable tradition."[307]

A November 2006 conference at Al-Azhar University in Cairo held under the auspices of the Grand Mufti of Egypt passed a resolution – with the same legal weight as fatwa – that FGM was to be considered a punishable offence, because it constitutes "an act of aggression and a crime against humanity".[308]

In 2007 the Cairo-based Al-Azhar Supreme Council of Islamic Research, an entity belonging to what is generally regarded as one of the most significant theological universities in the OIC, ruled that female genital mutilation has no basis in Islamic law.[309]

In 2012, Professor Dr. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu – the then Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – urged countries to abolish female genital mutilation (FGM), saying the practice was against Islam and human rights: "This practice is a ritual that has survived over centuries and must be stopped as Islam does not support it."[310]

In 2016, the OIC Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations reaffirmed its determination to eliminate FGM/C by 2030,[311] in accordance with a global target set by the UN in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to UNICEF (2014), twenty-six of the twenty-nine countries in which female genital mutilation is classified as 'concentrated' are in sub-Saharan Africa: there is no recorded prevalence in any non-African OIC member state outside Yemen (19% prevalence) and Iraq (8%).[312]

From very early times various methods of contraception have been practiced in Islam,[285] and Muslim jurists of the two major sects of Islam, Sunni and Shia, generally agree that contraception and family planning are not forbidden by Sharia; the use of contraceptive devices is permitted if the marital partners agree.[285][313] All the Islamic schools of law from the tenth to the nineteenth century gave contraception their serious consideration,[314] they dealt principally with coitus interruptus, the most common method, and unanimously agreed that it was licit provided the free wife gave her permission, because she had rights to children and to sexual fulfilment which withdrawal was believed to diminish.[314] From the writings of the jurists it emerges that other methods of birth control – mostly intravaginal tampons – were also used by premodern women and the commonest view was that these should only be employed if the husband also agreed.[314]

Given the era and the fact that both Christian and Jewish tradition outlawed contraception, the attitude of Muslims towards birth control has been characterised as being remarkably pragmatic; they also possessed a sophisticated knowledge of possible birth control methods.[314] Medieval doctors like Ibn Sina (Avicenna) regarded birth control as a normal part of medicine, and devoted chapters to contraception and abortion in their textbooks (although it should be noted that the permissibility of abortion within Islamic thought varies according to a number of factors; Islam views the family as sacred and children as a gift from God).[314][315] According to medieval Muslims, birth control was employed to avoid a large number of dependants; to safeguard property; to guarantee the education of a child; to protect a woman from the risks of childbirth, especially if she was young or ill; or simply to preserve her health and beauty.[314]

In some Islamic populations, sex-selective female infanticide is of concern because of abnormally high boy to girl ratios at birth;[317] in Islamic Azerbaijan, for example, the birth sex ratio was in the 105 to 108 range, before the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. After the collapse, the birth sex ratios in Azerbaijan has sharply climbed to over 115 and remained high for the last 20 years,[317] the persistently observed 115 boys for every 100 girls born suggests sex-selective abortion of females in Azerbaijan in the last 20 years.[318][319][320] Other Muslim-majority countries with high birth sex ratio, implying[321][322] female sex-selective abortion, include Albania (112)[323] and Pakistan (111).[324][325]

In Islam, a woman may only divorce her husband under certain conditions, these are many and include neglect, not being supported financially, the husband's impotence, apostasy, madness, dangerous illness or some other defect in the marriage.[326][327] Divorce by mutual consent has only to be agreed upon by both parties to become effective.[327] If a Muslim woman wishes to divorce her husband she has two options under Sharia law: seek a tafriq, or seek a khul. A tafriq is a divorce for certain allowable reasons, this divorce is granted by a qadi, a religious judge, in cases where the qadi accepts her claims of abuse or abandonment. If a tafriq is denied by the qadi, she cannot divorce. If a tafriq is granted, the marriage is dissolved and the husband is obligated to pay her the deferred mahr in their marriage contract, the second method, by far more common in wife-initiated divorces, khul is a divorce without cause, by mutual consent. This divorce requires a husband's consent and it must be supported by consideration that passes from the wife to the husband. Often, this consideration almost always consists of the wife relinquishing her claim to the deferred mahr; in actual practice and outside of Islamic judicial theory, a woman's right to divorce is often extremely limited compared with that of men in the Middle East.[328]

In contrast to the comparatively limited methods of divorce available to a woman, Islam allows a Muslim husband to unilaterally divorce his wife, as talaq, with no requirement to show cause; however, in practice there is variance by country as to whether there are any additional legal processes when a husband divorces his wife by this method. For example, the Tunisian Law of Personal Status (1957) makes repudiation by a husband invalid until it has been ratified by a court, and provides for further financial compensation to the wife.[327] Similar laws have been enacted elsewhere, both within an interpretive framework of traditional sharī'ah law, and through the operation of civil codes not based upon the sharī'ah.[327] However, upon talaq, the husband must pay the wife her deferred mahr,[329] some Muslim-majority countries mandate additional financial contributions to be made to the wife on top of the mahr: for example, the Syrian Law of Personal Status (1953) makes the payment of maintenance to the wife by the husband obligatory for one year after the divorce, which is thus a legal recourse of the wife against the husband.[327] The husband is free to marry again immediately after a divorce, but the woman must observe iddah, that is wait for 3 lunar months[330] before she can remarry after divorce, to establish paternity, in case she discovers she is pregnant. In case of death of her husband, the iddah period is 4 lunar months and 10 days before she can start conjugal relations with another Muslim man.[331][332][333]

A key verse relating to obligation of women during divorce is 2:228:[334]

Divorced women remain in waiting for three periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have more right to take them back in this [period] if they want reconciliation. And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable, but the men have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority]. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.

(Al-Quran 2:228)

This verse not only explains the divorce rights of women in Islam, it sets out iddah to prevent illegal custody of divorcing husband's child by a woman, specifies that each gender has divorce rights, and that men are a degree above women.[334][335][336]

Although no limitation or prohibition against women's travelling alone is mentioned in the Quran, there is a debate in some Islamic sects, especially Salafis, regarding whether women may travel without a mahram (unmarriageable relative),[337] some scholars state that a woman may not travel by herself on a journey that takes longer than three days (equivalent to 77 kilometres or 48 miles in medieval Islam).[338] According to the European Council for Fatwa and Research, this prohibition arose from fears for women's safety when travel was more dangerous.[337] Some scholars relax this prohibition for journeys likely to be safe, such as travel with a trustworthy group of men or men and women, or travel via a modern train or plane when the woman will be met upon arrival.[337]

Saudi Arabia is currently the only Muslim country that had banned women from driving as per a 1990 fatwa (religious ruling).[339][340], which was lifted in 2017. Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni, a Saudi Islamic scholar, has said that neither the Quran nor the sunnah prohibits women from driving and that it is better for a woman to drive herself than to be driven by a stranger without a legal escort,[341] he also stated, however, that he "personally will not allow [his] wife or daughters or sisters to drive."[341]John Esposito, professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, has argued that these restrictions originate from cultural customs and not Islam.[342]

A Muslim woman may not move in a mosque, or perform salat, while she is menstruating or during postpartum period, because bodily fluids are considered ritually impure in Islam, some Muslim scholars suggest that the woman should stay in her house, or near her house, during this state.[289][343][344] Some Islamic jurists claim that this is an incorrect interpretation of sharia, and suggest the Islamic intent was about hygiene, not about religious ritual cleanliness.[289]

Modesty is a religious prescription in Islam: the Qur'an commands both men and women to dress modestly and not display their bodies, and Muḥammad asserted that modesty is a central character trait in Islam.[345]

In the specific context of women, the Qur'an at 24:31 speaks of covering women's "ornaments" from strangers outside the family,[346] this latter verse of the Qur'an represents the institution of a new public modesty: when the pre-Islamic Arabs went to battle, Arab women seeing the men off to war would bare their breasts to encourage them to fight; or they would do so at the battle itself, as in the case of the Meccan women led by Hind at the Battle of Uḥud.[346] This type of behaviour is commonly seen by Islamic scholars and the broader Muslim public alike as emblematic of a state of spiritual ignorance (al-Jāhiliyyah).

All the orthodox schools of sharī'ah law prescribe covering the body in public: specifically, to the neck, the ankles, and below the elbow.[346] However, it should be noted that none of the traditional legal systems actually stipulate that women must wear a veil:[346] it is only the wives of Muḥammad who are instructed to wear this article of clothing (33:59).[346]

On the basis of the injunction to be modest, various forms of dress were developed in different parts of the Islamic world, but some forms of dress were carryovers from earlier, pre-Islamic Near Eastern societies: the practice of women covering their hair was the norm in the earlier communities of Jews and Christians,[345] the iconography of the Virgin Mary in Christian art always shows her with her hair covered, and this convention was followed into the modern era by both Georgian and Armenian Christians, in addition to Oriental Jewish women; Catholic women would not go to church without covering their heads until well into the twentieth century.[345] The covering of the hair was taken by women to be a natural part of life as a sign of modesty and especially as a sign of respect before God.[345]

In the twenty-first century, there continues to be tremendous variance in how Muslim women dress, not least because the Islamic world is so geographically and culturally diverse. Laws passed in states (such as laïcist Turkey and Tunisia) with twentieth century Westernisation campaigns – which mandated that women wear "modern", western-style clothing – have been relaxed in recent years;[347][348] similarly, the end of communism in Albania and the Yugoslav republics also meant an end to highly restrictive secular apparel legislation.[349] As a result, it is now legal for women in these countries to wear clothes suggesting a (post-)modern Islamic identity – such as the headscarf colloquially known as the ḥijāb – in public, though not necessarily in all public institutions or offices of state.[350][351]

Conversely, in a handful of states – notably Iran and Saudi Arabia – with modernist fundamentalist regimes, dress codes stipulating that women wear exclusively "religious" garments (as opposed to "secular" ones) in public which became mandatory in the latter part of the twentieth century are still in force.[352] However, these countries are both theologically and culturally atypical within the Islamic world: Iran is the world's only shī'a revolutionary state, while Saudi Arabia is one of only a handful of Wahhabi countries;[353] in none of the others do the same restrictions on women's clothing in public apply. The overwhelming majority of Muslim-majority countries do not have laws mandating the public wearing of either secular or religious apparel, and the full spectrum of female clothing – from bikinis to face veils – can be seen in countries such as Albania, Lebanon and Morocco.[354][355][356]

According to all schools of Islamic law, only women are permitted to wear pure silken garments next to the skin, although the schools of law differ about almost every other detail concerning silk (such as the permissibility of men wearing silk mixed with other fibres);[357] in Islamic tradition, silk is strongly associated with Heaven.[357] The Qur'an speaks in several places of the sumptuous fabrics to be enjoyed by the virtuous in Paradise: their garments will be made of silk (22:23 and 35:33), and they will recline on carpets lined with rich brocade (55:54).[357]

Gold

Similarly, sharī'ah law posits that only women may wear gold ornaments, such as jewellery,[358] the intention behind this distinction is to help men maintain a state of sobriety, reserve, concentration, and spiritual poverty (the "perfections of the centre").[358] Conversely, women, who symbolise unfolding, infinitude and manifestation, are not bound by the same constraints.[358]

From the 1920s to the 1970s, the use of what is often referred to as the "veil" – this term could mean anything from a face veil to a shawl loosely draped over the head – declined until only a minority of Muslim women outside the conservative societies of the Arabian peninsula still used it.[361] However, in recent decades there has been an increase in the number of Muslim women wearing new types of head coverings which are known by the generic appellation "ḥijāb".

This development has been criticised on religious grounds from a number of angles:

1. Lack of scriptural validity. The Sorbonne-educated Franco-Bosnian academic Jasna Šamić has posited that the term "ḥijāb" does not have any connection with the noun or concept of "headscarf": "The expression hijab in the Koran means 'the veil hiding God'; in other words one can never see and get to know God, because our intellect is too weak [to fully comprehend Him]."[362] Other analysts have pointed out that the Qu'rānic verse most cited in defence of the ḥijāb (Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, 33:59) does not mention this article of clothing at all; instead, it references a "long, overflowing gown" which was the traditional dress at the time of this revelation.[363]

2. Lack of historical authenticity. Similarly, it has been noted that the ḥijāb as worn today is historically alien to the Islamic world.[citation needed] This is illustrated by an incident involving Gamal Abdel Nasser, during his rule as the 2nd President of Egypt (1956-1970), Nasser was given a list of demands by the Supreme Leader of the [Muslim] Brotherhood as part of a process of political reconciliation. This list included "imposing ḥijāb on Muslim women": "The audience members didn't understand what the word 'ḥijāb' meant. When Nasser explained that the Brotherhood wanted Egyptian women to wear a headscarf, the audience members burst out laughing."[363][clarification needed]

3. Superficiality. The rise of the ḥijāb in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has been criticised as "reverse objectification", whereby women are primarily judged by what they wear as opposed to their broader conduct as human beings, despite their ostensibly modest dress, the Singaporean writer Sya Taha has expressed this as follows: "In any commercial magazine targeted at Muslim women, compare the number of pages dedicated to hijab styling or makeup with sport, art, music, humanitarian work or science...In contrast, Muslim women that do not wear hijab are often framed as though they must justify and reconcile how they can identify as Muslim women."[364]

4. Consumerism. Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, the author and Vice President of brand consultancy Ogilvy Noor, has warned that the rise of contemporary Islamic fashion as exemplified by the ḥijāb risks being overwhelmed by the '"consumerism and objectification" of the mainstream fashion industry: "Muslim fashion is teetering between asserting a Muslim woman's right to be beautiful and well-turned out, and buying more stuff than you need, and being judged by your clothes – both of which are the opposite of Islamic values."[365]

5. Commercialism and Exploitation. Finally, the concern that the ḥijāb is being promoted for commercial rather than religious reasons is a live one, for example, the promoter of "World Hijab Day" – an event which began in 2013, and which encourages non-Muslim women to try out ḥijābs – is a Bangladeshi-American owner of a headscarf company, which typifies the prevalent conflict of interest issues.[363] Similarly, the popularisation of the tudung ḥijāb in Malaysia has been characterised as an exercise in "cashing in" on a trend that is part of a multibillion-dollar industry.[366] Additionally, the fact many of these ḥijāb garments are made by poorly-paid (often Muslim) women in developing countries contravenes the Qu'rānic precepts of consuming without abuse (2:60) or oppressing others (20:81).[364]

Deepening globalisation has resulted in a number of developments pertaining to clothing customs in Muslim-majority countries. Firstly, retail outlets for Western fashion labels are now commonly found in OIC member states: to give but one example, Calvin Klein has stores from the Citypark shopping mall in Tirana, Albania to the Plaza Indonesia mall in Jakarta. Secondly, fashion labels specialising in modest attire (particularly but not exclusively the hijab or headscarf worn by some Muslim women) have sprung up in a number of OIC states and observer countries.

Thirdly, in addition to the many already existing fashion schools in Islamic world, branches of international fashion schools have opened across the OIC: most notably, the Paris-based École supérieure des arts et techniques de la mode or ESMOD has branch campuses in Beirut (established in 1999),[367] Damascus (1995),[368] Dubai (2006),[369] Istanbul (2010),[370] Kuala Lumpur (2012),[371] Jakarta (1996),[372] Sousse (1989) and Tunis (1989).[373][374] Fourthly, numerous fashion weeks have been inaugurated in many Muslim-majority countries.

Fifthly, the fashion media sector within the Muslim world for both Western and Islamic fashion has grown tremendously from the 1990s onwards. Local editions of magazines from Marie Claire to Cosmopolitan are now published in a wide range of OIC member states, including Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia, while fashion magazines specifically targeted at more overtly religious demographics are flourishing: the Turkish title Âlâ is reportedly outselling both Vogue and Elle within its home market,[375] while Aquila Style has a purported total circulation of 30,000 in three ASEAN states.[376]

The 2014–15 Thomson Reuters State of the Global Islamic Economy Report[377] forecasts that expenditure on clothing in OIC member states will reach US$484 billion by 2019.[378]

From the earliest centuries of Islam, Muslims have visited shrines and mosques to pray, meditate, ask forgiveness, seek cures for ailments, and seek grace – a blessing or spiritual influence (barakah) sent down by God,[379] some of these structures are named after women.

The Meryemana or wishing wall at the House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, Turkey. Pilgrims' most frequent wishes include those for good health, peace and happiness,[380] this devotional site is one of many that is sacred to both Christians and Muslims.[381]

The Virgin Mary ('Maryam' in Arabic) has a particularly exalted position within the Islamic tradition, extolled as she is for being the mother of Jesus, whom Muslims revere as a prophet.[382] Maryam is the only woman mentioned by name in Islam's sacred text; an entire chapter or sūra of the Qur'an – the nineteenth, Sūrat Maryam – bears her name.

Accordingly, the Virgin Mary is synonymous with numerous holy sites in the Islamic faith:

The House of the Virgin Mary near Selçuk, Turkey. This is a shrine frequented by both Christians and Muslims, it is known as Panaya Kapulu ("the Doorway to the Virgin") in Turkish. Pilgrims drink water from a spring under her house which is believed to have healing properties. Perhaps the shrine's most distinctive feature is the Mereyemana or wishing wall on which visitors attach their written wishes; because the House of the Virgin Mary is increasingly famous internationally, these messages are composed in English, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, French and Spanish, as well as Turkish.[383][384] A giant statue of the Virgin Mary – similar in dimensions to that of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro – is planned to be erected in the vicinity of the shrine.[385][386][387]

The Virgin Mary Monastery in the province of Giresun, Turkey. This is one of the oldest monasteries in the area and has been active since the fourth century A.D.[388][389]

The Virgin Mary Mosque in Tartous, Syria. This was officially inaugurated in June 2015 as a symbol of peace and religious tolerance. Antoine Deeb – the representative of the Tartous and Lattakia Patriarchate – stated that naming the mosque after the Virgin Mary 'shows that Islam and Christianity share the messages of peace and love.'[390]

Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This site is associated with a number of Marian apparitions forecast by a Muslim mystic by the name of Hasan Shushud that were reported in the late twentieth century by local Catholics.[392]

The Chapel of Santa Cruz at Oran, Algeria. The chapel's tower contains a large statue of the Virgin Mary, which is styled as Notre Dame du Salut de Santa Cruz. The historian James McDougall notes in his acclaimed A History of Algeria (2017) that to this day, the women of Oran "still climb up to the church the [French] settlers built...in 1959, at Santa Cruz, to light candles to lalla Maryam, the Virgin whose statue still looks benignly over their city from the mountaintop."[393]

Hala Sultan Tekke, Larnaca, Cyprus. This ancient site is revered because it contains the burial place of Muḥammad's paternal aunt Hala Sultan (Umm Haram in Arabic), although other scholars believe that she was in fact Muḥammad's wet nurse.[394][395]

According to legend, Hala Sultan died after falling off her mule and breaking her neck during the first Arab incursions into Cyprus around 647 A.D. The same night, a divine power supposedly placed three giant stones where she lay; in 1760, Hala Sultan's grave was discovered by Sheikh Hasan; he began spreading the word about her healing powers, and a tomb was built there.[394] The complex – comprising a mosque, mausoleum, minaret, cemetery and living quarters for men and women – was constructed in its present form while the island was still under Ottoman rule, and completed in around 1816.[394]

According to the archaeologist Tuncer Bağışkan, during the Ottoman period in Cyprus, Ottoman-flagged ships used to fly their flags at half-mast when off the shores of Larnaca, and salute Hala Sultan with cannon shots.[396]

This tekke is also notable for being the burial place of the grandmother of the late King Hussein of Jordan.[394]

The granddaughter of Muḥammad is the patron saint of Cairo, the Arab world's largest city and a regional cultural hub, she also has the following mosques named for her:

The Sayeda Zainab mosque in Cairo, Egypt. The original structure was built in 1549; the modern mosque dates back to 1884.[397] In 1898, the square in front of the mosque also took her name,[398] the mosque was expanded in 1942 and renovated in 1999 following an earthquake seven years earlier.[399] There is an annual feast dedicated to Sayeda Zainab which celebrates her birth; the celebration features ecstatic mystical whirling inside the shrine, while outside there are fairground attractions such as merry-go-round rides.[399][400] Historically, the coffee shops around the square and the mosque were places where some of Egypt's most notable writers and journalists met and exchanged ideas.[399] There is a notable silver shrine inside the mosque.[401] According to Sunni Muslim tradition, this mosque houses the tomb of Sayeda Zainab.

The Sayeda Zainab Mosque in the city of Sayeda Zainab, a southern suburb of Damascus, Syria. According to Shia Muslim tradition, it is in fact this mosque which contains the tomb of Muḥammad's granddaughter, it has been a destination of mass pilgrimage for Muslims since the 1980s. The dome is gold-leafed.

Fātimah al-Ma'sūmah was the sister of the eighth Imam and the daughter of the seventh Imam in 'Twelver' Shī'ism, her shrine – located in Qom, a city which is one of the most important Shī'ah centres of theology. During the Safavid dynasty, the women of this family were very active in embellishing the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh; in times of war, Safavid royal women found refuge in Qom, and likely compared their situation to that of Fatima Masumeh.[402]

One of the most famous saints in Islam, Rabi'āh al-'Adawiyyah ('Rabi'āh') extolled the way of maḥabbah ('divine love') and uns ('Intimacy with God'), her mystical sayings are noted for their pith and clarity; some have become proverbs throughout the Islamic world. The famous mosque in Cairo, Egypt which is named in Rabi'āh's honour is notable for being the burial site of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, the mosque was badly damaged during the 2013 post-military coup unrest in Egypt.[403] It has since been rebuilt.

Ruqayyah bint Ali was the daughter-in-law of Muḥammad's cousin and son-in-law 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. Legend has it that the Bibi Pak Daman (lit. 'the chaste lady') mausoleum – located in Lahore, Pakistan – named after her contains not just her grave but those of five other ladies from Muḥammad's household. These females were amongst the most important women who brought Islam to South Asia, it is said that these ladies came here after the event of the battle of Karbala on the 10th day of the month of Muharram in 61 AH (October 10, CE 680). Bibi Pak Daman, which means the "chaste lady", is the collective name of the six ladies believed to interred at this mausoleum, though it is also (mistakenly) popularly used to refer to the personage of Ruqayyah bint Ali alone, they were among the women who brought Islam to South Asia, preaching and engaging in missionary activity in the environs of Lahore. It is said that Data Ganj Bakhsh, considered a great Sufi saint of the South Asia, was himself a devotee of the Bibi Pak Daman shrine and received holy knowledge from this auspicious shrine.[404]

According to a saying attributed to Muhammad in the hadith Sahih Bukhari, women are allowed to go to mosques.[405] However, as Islam spread, Muslim authorities stressed the fears of unchastity from interaction between sexes outside their home, including the mosque. By pre-modern period it was unusual for women to pray at a mosque.[406] By the late 1960s, women in urban areas of the Middle East increasingly began praying in the mosque, but men and women generally worship separately.[407] (Muslims explain this by citing the need to avoid distraction during prayer prostrations that raise the buttocks while the forehead touches the ground.[408]) Separation between sexes ranges from men and women on opposite sides of an aisle, to men in front of women (as was the case in the time of Muhammad), to women in second-floor balconies or separate rooms accessible by a door for women only.[408] Women in the state of ritual impurity, such as menstruation, are forbidden from entering the prayer hall of the mosque.[409]

Female religious scholars were relatively common from early Islamic history throughout the 16th century.[410]Mohammad Akram Nadwi, a Sunni religious scholar, has listed 8,000 female jurists, and orientalist Ignaz Goldziher estimates 15 percent of medieval hadith scholars were women.[411] Women, during early history of Islam, primarily obtained their knowledge through community study groups, ribat retreats and during hajj when the usual restrictions imposed on female education were more lenient,[412] after the 16th century, however, female scholars became fewer.[411] In the modern era, while female activists and writers are relatively common, there has not been a significant female jurist in over 200 years.[413] Opportunities for women's religious education exist, but cultural barriers often keep women from pursuing such a vocation.[411]

Women's right to become imams, however, is disputed by many. A fundamental role of an imam (religious leader) in a mosque is to lead the salat (congregational prayers). Generally, women are not allowed to lead mixed prayers. However, some argue that Muhammad gave permission to Ume Warqa to lead a mixed prayer at the mosque of Dar.[414][415]

Hui women are self-aware of their relative freedom as Chinese women in contrast to the status of Arab women in countries like Saudi Arabia where Arab women are restricted and forced to wear encompassing clothing. Hui women point out these restrictions as "low status", and feel better to be Chinese than to be Arab, claiming that it is Chinese women's advanced knowledge of the Quran which enables them to have equality between men and women.[416]

Sufi Islam teaches the doctrine of tariqa, meaning following a spiritual path in daily living habits. To support followers of this concept, separate institutions for men (ta'ifa, hizb, rabita) and women (khanqa, rabita, derga) were created. Initiates to these groups pursued a progression of seven stages of spiritual discipline, called makamat (stations) or ahwal (spiritual states).[417]

Rabiah al-Basri is an important figure in Islamic Mysticism called Sufism. She upheld the doctrine of "disinterested love of God".[418]

Khaleda Zia. 2nd Female head of government in the Muslim world taking office in 1991 she began the chain of female successors that would make Bangladesh the country that has had the longest continuous female government leadership.

This historical record contrasts markedly with that of (predominantly Taoist and Buddhist) Chinese-majority nations, where there were no women rulers in the period between the reign of the fierce empress Wu Zetian at the turn of the eighth century (690-705), and the inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen as President of the Republic of China in 2016.[429]

Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, an Islamic institute that advises Egypt's ministry of justice, had said women can both be rulers and judges in an Islamic state.[430]

Female heads of state in Muslim-majority countries during the modern era[edit]

In the modern era, Pakistan became the first Muslim-majority state with an elected female head of government (1988).[431] Currently Bangladesh is the country that has had females as head of government continuously the longest starting with Khaleda Zia in 1991.

Female legislators in Muslim-majority countries in the 21st century[edit]

As well as elected heads of state, a number of other elected female politicians have attained exceptional levels of notability within the OIC in the twenty-first century, these include Louisa Hanoune, the head of Algeria's Workers' Party and the first woman to be a presidential candidate in an Arab country (2004; Hanoune also ran for the same post in 2009 and 2014);[440][441]Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia's Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (2014-2019) who is also a successful seafood and transportation entrepreneur who has been profiled in the Financial Times;[442] and Meral Akşener, a veteran Turkish conservative nationalist politician who is seen as a possible future challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[443]

Several Muslim-majority nations have passed laws to incorporate more women in their parliaments and political processes, for example, Indonesia passed a law in 2013 that required political parties to field at least 30% women candidates in elections or pay a financial penalty, a law which was later amended to stipulate that at least one in three candidates on every party's electoral list must be female and parties which do not fulfill this criterion will be barred from contesting the election;[444][445][446] Tunisia's mandated electoral lists composed of 50% women in both the 2011 and 2014 legislative elections;[447][448] and in 2012, Algeria set a minimum parliamentary female membership requirement of 30%.[449] Following the May 2012 legislative elections, women constitute 31.6% of Algerian MPs.[449] In Senegal, 50% of local and national electoral lists have to be female as of 2012.[450][451] Kosovo has had a female quota for its assembly as far back as 2001, when it was de jure part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;[452] the Muslim-majority (95.6%) Balkan republic guarantees women 30% of parliamentary seats as of 2016.[453]

In 2012, among all regions of the world, the Gulf Arab region had the lowest overall percentage of women in parliament, and no women in the parliaments of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.[454] However, since 2012 Saudi women have been allowed to vote in some elections,[455][456] the Shura Council of Saudi Arabia now includes female members after a January 2013 decree by the Saudi King that created reserved parliamentary seats for women.[457] Kuwait granted its women the right to vote in the first half of the 1980s;[458] this right was later rescinded, and then reintroduced in 2005.[459] Additionally, the United Arab Emirates has allocated 30% of its top government posts to women;[460] as of February 2016, females accounted for 27.5% of the UAE's cabinet.[461]

According to Sheikh Zoubir Bouchikhi, Imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston's Southeast Mosque, nothing in Islam specifically allows or disallows voting by women,[462] until recently most Muslim nations were non-democratic, but most today allow their citizens to have some level of voting and control over their government. However, some Muslim countries gave women suffrage in the early 20th century, for example, Azerbaijan extended voting rights to women in 1918,[463] two years before it became part of Soviet Union. Females in Turkey similarly gained the right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections in 1930 and 1934 respectively.[464][465]

In the Islamic conception, every human being has a responsibility towards oneself, since human life is sacred and initially created by divine rather than human agency, people are responsible for trying to keep their bodies and souls healthy, and not causing themselves spiritual or physical harm.[466] Consequently, sport has obvious attractions in Islam: traditions record that Muḥammad raced with his wife 'Ā'ishah, and that he encouraged parents to teach their children swimming, riding and archery.[467] Persian miniatures show Muslim women jointly playing polo with men in the same field;[467] in the twenty-first century, some Muslim sociologists even argue that it should be obligatory for Muslim females to participate in sport of some kind.[468]

Muslim women have achieved significant success in athletic arenas; in the second decade of the twenty-first century, women's club volleyball has come to be dominated by teams from OIC member state Turkey, which have won five out of seven editions of the Women's CEV Champions League from 2010-2011 through to 2016-2017.[469] The Turkish women's national volleyball team has also enjoyed significant success in the twenty-first century, winning the gold medal at the inaugural European Games in 2015.[470] Notable female tennis players from the OIC and its observer and applicant states include Dinara Safina, who achieved the coveted world number one ranking in 2009 and (with Marat Safin) is one half of the only brother-sister pair to both attain No. 1 rankings; Sania Mirza, the first-ever UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia, who was India's best female singles player for ten years straight (2003-2013); and Indonesian Yayuk Basuki, who won four Asian Games gold medals in the 1980s and 1990s. Women's football has significantly increased its profile within the OIC bloc in the twenty-first century. A number of Muslim female footballers have been or are presently prominent players for various UEFA national teams in Western Europe, including Fatmire Alushi, Louisa Nécib, and Kosovare Asllani.

At the same time, many Muslim women experience significant barriers to sports participation, these barriers include bans on the Islamic headscarf, commonly known as the hijab, cultural and familial barriers, and the lack of appropriate sports programs and facilities.[471] Many Muslim female athletes have overcome these obstacles and used sports to empower themselves and others, such as through education, health and wellbeing, and a push for women's rights.[472][473][474]

From its inception, Islam has had contact and coexistence with other major world faiths, and this phenomenon intensified as the religion transcended its Arabian origins to spread over a wide geographical area: from the Adriatic region, where Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity took root, to the Hinduism- and Buddhism-dominated land masses of India and South-East Asia, Muslim populations have both influenced and been influenced by the pre-existing spiritual traditions that they encountered. Prominent examples of these processes include the syncretist philosophy of dīn-i-ilāhī ("religion of God"), an amalgam of several religions devised by Emperor Akbar (1542-1605) that was practiced at the Mughul Court in India;[475] the crypto-Christianity of Kosovo, a belief system that created a tradition of joint Catholic-Muslim households which persisted into the twentieth century;[476] and Pancasila, the official foundational philosophy of the modern Indonesian state which draws on indigenous beliefs, as well as Hindu, Christian and Islamic traditions.

In the twenty-first century, a number of new factors have facilitated the comparison of spiritual traditions – and the place of women within them – to an unprecedented level, these include: (i) a fresh wave of technological globalisation, which has obliterated communicational borders; (ii) the advent of cheap mass international air travel, which has hugely increased people's exposure to other cultures; and (iii) the internationalisation of higher education, whereby students and scholars alike are spending ever-increasing amounts of time in countries with different religious demographic compositions to their own.

Notwithstanding these developments, comparing the position of women in Islam with that of women in other faith traditions is complicated by the following determinants:

Geographical and cultural breadth. Given that the Muslim world encompasses states as diverse as Albania, Mali and Kazakhstan, diverse interpretations of texts such as the Qur'an are inevitable, although there are also large areas of concordance between the orthodox schools of Islamic thought, both Sunni and Shi'a, the prevalence of cultural customs which are sometimes ascribed to Islam but which have at best a tenuous scriptural basis (and that in fact may be diametrically opposed to the teachings of the religion) is another element which needs to be recognised.

Scholarly differences. When analysing both Islam in general and the topic of women in Islam in particular, the views of scholars and commentators are profoundly shaped by certain cultural lenses, those coming from a Western background, such as the Switzerland-born writer Charles le Gai Eaton, tend to compare and contrast Islam with Christianity; Eaton concluded that Islam, with certain important qualifications, was "essentially patriarchal". Conversely, those coming from an East Asian background tend to emphasise similarities between Islam and religions such as Taoism, which stress complementarity between the sexes: according to the Japanese scholar Sachiko Murata, it was mandatory for her to use the I Ching as a means of "[conceptualising] Islamic teachings on the feminine principle without doing violence to the original texts."[477]

Political distortions. The historical strength of various Muslim-led polities – which, unlike other comparable non-Western entities such as China and Japan, were adjacent to "Christian" Europe and/or perceived to be in competition with Western powers – meant that the question of women in Islam has not always been approached objectively by those professing expertise in the subject, this can be viewed as part of the "Orientalist" academic discourse (as defined by Edward Said) that creates a rigid East-West dichotomy in which dynamic and positive values are ascribed to Western civilisation; by contrast, "Oriental" societies (including but certainly not limited to Islamic ones) are depicted as being "stationary" and in need of "modernising" through imperial administrations.[478]

In contrast with the biblical account of the Fall, in Islamic tradition Eve (Ḥawwā) did not tempt Adam (Ādam) to eat the forbidden fruit; instead, they were tempted together by the Devil. This means that Eve was not the cause of Adam's expulsion from paradise: he was also responsible, and therefore both men and women are faced equally with its consequences, this has a number of important implications for the Islamic understanding of womanhood and women's roles in both religious and social life.[479] For one, in Islam, women are not seen as a source of evil as a result of the Fall.[480]

Moreover, the Biblical statement that Eve was created from Adam's rib (the famous 'third rib') finds no echo in the Qur'anic account: both male and female were created 'from one soul' (Sūrah 4:1).[480] Similarly, the concept that (as per Genesis 3:16) the pains of childbirth are a punishment for Eve's sin is alien to the Qur'an.[480]

The Virgin Mary (Maryām) is considered by the Qur'an to hold the most exalted spiritual position amongst women. A chapter of the Qur'an (Sūrat Maryam, the nineteenth sura) is named after her, and she is the only woman mentioned by name in Islam's sacred scripture; Maryām is mentioned more times in the Qur'an than in the New Testament.[481] Furthermore, the miraculous birth of Christ from a virgin mother is recognised in the Qur'an.[482]

In the Western world, polygamy has long been associated with Islam; the idea of Islam as – to quote Professor Akbar S. Ahmed – some sort of 'man's paradise', with every man possessing at least four wives, remains a powerful one.[483]

Women have played an integral part in the development and spiritual life of Islam since the inception of Islamic civilisation in the seventh century AD. Khadijah, a businesswoman who became Muhammad's employer and first wife,[484] was also the first Muslim.[485] There have been a large number of female saints throughout the Islamic world spanning the highest social classes (a famous example being Princess Jahānārā, the daughter of the Moghul emperor Shāh Jahān) and the lowest (such as Lallā Mīmūna in Morocco);[486] some of them, such as Rābi'a of Basra (who is cited reverentially in Muḥammad al-Ghazālī's classic The Revival of Religious Sciences) and Fāṭima of Cordoba (who deeply influenced the young Ibn 'Arabī) have been pivotal to the conceptualisation of Islamic mysticism.[486]

Today, some notable personalities of the Islamic world include the Turkish Sufi teacher Cemalnur Sargut – a disciple of the novelist and mystic Samiha Ayverdi (1905–1993),[487] Amatul Rahman Omar, the first woman to translate the Qur'an into English,[488] and Shaykha Fariha al Jerrahi, the guide of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order.[489]

Notable recent female converts to Islam include the German former MTV VJ and author Kristiane Backer,[490] American singer and cultural icon Janet Jackson,[491] Malaysian model Felixia Yeap,[492] Malaysian VJ Marion Caunter, Czech model Markéta Kořínková,[493] the Belgian model and former Miss Belgium candidate Lindsey van Gele,[494] and Lithuanian model-turned-actress Karolina 'Kerry' Demirci;[495] the Serbian model and fashion designer Ivana Sert stated her intention to become a Muslim in 2014 after she read the Qur'an in English.[496] Notable recent women born in a Muslim family who became atheist or converted to another religion include Dutch feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali,[497] Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin,[498] Indian actress Nakhat Khan and Iranian-American women's right activist Parvin Darabi,[499][500] the Turkish actress, author and model (Miss Turkey 2001) Tuğçe Kazaz converted from Islam to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 2005, and then converted back to Islam in 2008.[501]

Women make up a disproportionately large or rising share of converts to Islam in numerous Western countries. According to researchers based at Swansea University, of the approximately 100,000 people who entered the Muslim faith in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2011, 75% were women;[502] in the United States, more Hispanic women convert to Islam than Hispanic men;[503] the share of overall female converts to Islam in the US rose from 32% in 2000 to 41% in 2011.[504] Young females constitute an estimated 80% of converts to Islam in Lithuania.[505] According to Susanne Leuenberger of the Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities and the Social Sciences at the University of Bern, females make up around 60-70% of conversions to Islam in Europe.[506]

Within the Muslim community, conservatives and Islamic feminists have used Islamic doctrine as the basis for discussion of women's rights, drawing on the Quran, the hadith, and the lives of prominent women in the early period of Muslim history as evidence.[507] Where conservatives have seen evidence that existing gender asymmetries are divinely ordained, feminists have seen more egalitarian ideals in early Islam.[507] Still others have argued that this discourse is essentialist and ahistorical, and have urged that Islamic doctrine not be the only framework within which discussion occurs.[507]

Conservatives reject the assertion that different laws prescribed for men and women imply that men are more valuable than women. Ali ibn Musa Al-reza reasoned that at the time of marriage a man has to pay something to his prospective bride, and that men are responsible for both their wives' and their own expenses but women have no such responsibility.[508]

Liberal Muslims have urged that ijtihad, a form of critical thinking, be used to develop a more progressive form of Islam with respect to the status of women.[518] In addition, Islamic feminists have advocated for women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework. Although rooted in Islam, pioneers of Islamic feminism have also used secular and western feminist discourses and have sought to include Islamic feminism in the larger global feminist movement. Islamic feminists seek to highlight the teachings of equality in Islam to question patriarchal interpretations of Islamic teachings.[519] Others point out the incredible amount of flexibility of shariah law, which can offer greater protections for women if the political will to do so is present.[520][521]

After the September 11, 2001, attacks, international attention was focused on the condition of women in the Muslim world.[522][523] Critics asserted that women are not treated as equal members of Muslim societies[524][525] and criticized Muslim societies for condoning this treatment,[524] some critics have gone so far as to make allegations of gender apartheid due to women's status.[526][527]Phyllis Chesler has alleged that Western academics, especially feminists, have ignored the plight of Muslim women in order to be considered politically correct.[528] However, one survey in 2006 found that most Muslim women do not see themselves as oppressed.[529]

The Indonesian Islamic professor Nasaruddin Umar is at the forefront of a reform movement from within Islam that aims at giving women equal status, among his works is a book The Qur'an for Women, which provides a new feminist interpretation.[citation needed]

Some Muslim women exposed to the growth in civil rights accessible to secular or non-Muslim women have protested to strengthen their own rights within Islamic communities. One example is Malaysia, where 60% of the population is Muslim, and where there are separate parallel legal systems for secular law and sharia law; in 2006, Marina Mahathir, the daughter of Malaysia's former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, published an editorial in the Malaysia Star newspaper to denounce what she termed "a growing form of apartheid" for Malaysia's Muslim women:

Non-Muslim Malaysian women have benefited from more progressive laws over the years while the opposite has happened for Muslim women.

She pointed out that polygamy was illegal in Malaysia for non-Muslims but not for Muslims, and that child custody arrangements for Muslims were biased towards fathers as opposed to the shared-custody arrangements of non-Muslim parents.[530] Women's groups in Malaysia began campaigning in the 1990s to have female sharia judges appointed to the sharia legal system in the country, and in 2010 two female judges were appointed.[531]

In March 2016, an Australian Tribunal determined that separate male and female seating arrangements contravened section 33 of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, the Tribunal ordered that all future publicity materials for public events hosted by Hizb ut-Tahrir must clearly inform attendees that segregated seating arrangements are not compulsory.[532][533][534]

^ abLindsay, James E. (2005). Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 196. ISBN0-313-32270-8. In addition, Muhammad is reported to have praised the women of Medina because of their desire for religious knowledge. "How splendid were the women of the ansar; shame did not prevent them from becoming learned in the faith."

^Elizabeth Fernea (1985), Women and the Family in the Middle East: New Voices of Change, University of Texas Press, ISBN978-0-292-75529-1, pages 264-269

^"Does the woman have the right to work?". Retrieved September 7, 2017. No one can object to a sensible and adult woman's legal right to engage in work that is lawful or to her right to be financially independent

^"Selected Rulings". Retrieved September 7, 2017. Wife should seek her husband's permission for going out of home, if it is against his rights or else obtaining his permission is not required. So in this case, she can [without permission] go out for learning and teaching, doing social and political activities and visiting parent and relatives.

^Esmaeili, H., & Gans, J. (1999). "Islamic law across cultural borders: the involvement of western nationals in Saudi murder trials", Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 28:145; see also [Quran24:4].

^Cheema, M. H.; Mustafa, A. R. (2008). "From the Hudood Ordinances to the Protection of Women Act: Islamic Critiques of the Hudood Laws of Pakistan". UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near East Law. 8: 1–101.

^Pernilla Ouis and Tove Myhrman (editors): "A New Approach: Gender-Based Sexual Violence as a Violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child". Gender-Based Sexual Violence Against Teenage Girls in the Middle East, Sweden, 2007. ISBN978-91-7321-256-4.

^Kelly, S. (2010), Recent gains and new opportunities for women's rights in the Gulf Arab states, Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Gulf Edition; Editors: Kelly and Breslin; ISBN978-1-4422-0396-9

^ abFrance MESLÉ; Jacques VALLIN; Irina BADURASHVILI (2007). A Sharp Increase in Sex Ratio at Birth in the Caucasus. Why? How?. Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography. pp. 73–89. ISBN2-910053-29-6.

1.
Hijab
–
A hijab is a veil traditionally worn by Muslim women in the presence of adult males outside of their immediate family, which usually covers the head and chest. The term can refer to any head, face, or body covering worn by Muslim women that conforms to a certain standard of modesty. Most often, it is worn by Muslim women as a symbol of modesty, according to the Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World, modesty in the Quran concerns both mens and womens gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia. The Quran instructs Muslim women to dress modestly, some Islamic legal systems define this type of modest clothing as covering everything except the face, hands up to wrists, and feet. These guidelines are found in texts of hadith and fiqh developed after the revelation of the Quran but, some believe that the Quran itself does not mandate that women wear hijab. In the Quran, the term refers to a partition or curtain in the literal or metaphorical sense. The verse where it is used literally is commonly understood to refer to the curtain separating visitors to Muhammads house from his wives lodgings and this had led some to argue that the mandate of the Quran to wear hijab applied to the wives of Muhammad, and not women generally. In recent times, wearing hijab in public has been required by law in Iran, Saudi Arabia, other countries have passed laws banning some or all types of hijab in public or in certain types of locales. Women in different parts of the world have also experienced unofficial pressure to wear or not wear hijab in general, or in its certain forms, including physical attacks. The Quran instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way, but there is disagreement on how these instructions should be interpreted, the verses relating to dress use the terms khimār and jilbāb rather than ḥijāb. The clearest verse on the requirement of modest dress is surah 24, 30–31, the word ḥijāb in the Quran refers not to womens clothing, but rather a spatial partition or curtain. The Arabic word jilbab is translated as cloak in the following passage, ubay ibn Kab used to ask me about it. Allahs Apostle became the bridegroom of Zaynab bint Jahsh whom he married at Medina, after the sun had risen high in the sky, the Prophet invited the people to a meal. Allahs Apostle remained sitting and some people remained sitting with him after the guests had left. Then Allahs Apostle got up and went away, and I too, then he thought that the people must have left the place by then, so he returned and I also returned with him. Behold, the people were sitting at their places. So he went back again for the time, and I went along with him too. When we reached the door of Aishas room, he returned, thereupon the Prophet hung a curtain between me and him and the Verse regarding the order for Hijab was revealed

2.
Islam
–
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion

3.
Iman (concept)
–
Iman in Islamic theology denotes a believers faith in the metaphysical aspects of Islam. Its most simple definition is the belief in the six articles of faith, the term Iman has been delineated in both the Quran as well as the Hadith of Gabriel. According to the Quran, Iman must be accompanied by righteous deeds, in the Hadith of Gabriel, Iman in addition to Islam and Ihsan form the three dimensions of the Islamic religion. There exists a debate both within and outside Islam on the link between faith and reason in religion, and the importance of either. Several scholars contend that faith and reason spring from the source and hence must be harmonious. In Arabic, Iman, pronounced means faith and it is the verbal noun of آمَنَ to believe. In a hadith, Muhammad defined iman as a knowledge in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, Faith is confidence in a truth which is real. When people have confidence, they submit themselves to that truth, hamiduddin Farahi, while explaining the meaning of Imān in his exegesis, wrote, The root of imān is amn. It is used in various shades of meaning, one of its derivatives is mumin, which is among the noble names of Allah because He gives peace to those who seek His refuge. This word is also an ancient religious term, another similar narration ascribed to Muhammad is, Ibn Abbas narrates that the Angel Jibril once asked the Prophet, Tell me what is Iman. Jibril then asked him, If I do all this will I be with Iman, the Prophet said, When you have done all of this, you will be having Iman. It is also assumed that the essential Iman consists of the first 3 items, in the Quran, Iman is one of the 10 qualities which cause one to be the recipient of Gods mercy and reward. The Quran states that faith can grow with remembrance of God, the Quran also states that nothing in this world should be dearer to a true believer than faith. Muhammad is reported to have said that he gained sweetness of faith who was pleased to accept God as Lord, Islam as religion and he also said that no one can be a true believer unless he loves the Prophet more than his children, parents and relatives. At another instance, he has remarked that it is love with God. Amin Ahsan Islahi, an exegete of the Quran has clarified the nature of this love. It is because of love that a person, in every sphere of life, gives priority to this viewpoint. Islahi and Maududi both have inferred that the Quranic comparison of a word and a bad word in Chapter 14 is actually a comparison of faith

4.
Tawhid
–
Tawhid is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religions most fundamental concept and holds that God is One, because of the principle of Tawhid the Islamic belief in God is considered Unitarian. Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession of faith, the first part of the Shahada is the declaration of belief in the oneness of God. To attribute divinity to an entity, known as shirk, is an unpardonable sin according to the Quran. Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid, There is an uncompromising monotheism at the heart of the Islamic beliefs which is seen, from an Islamic standpoint, as distinguishing Islam from other major religions. The Quran asserts the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world, a unique, independent and indivisible being, who is independent of the entire creation. God, according to Islam, is a universal God, rather than a local, tribal, or parochial one—God is an absolute, who integrates all affirmative values and brooks no evil. Islamic intellectual history can be understood as an unfolding of the manner in which successive generations of believers have understood the meaning. Islamic scholars have different approaches toward understanding it, Islamic theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, Sufism, even to some degree the Islamic understanding of natural sciences, all seek to explain at some level the principle of tawhid. The classical definition of tawhid was limited to declaring or preferring belief in one God, in modern Arabic, the verbs wahhada or yuwahhidu mean to unite or bring together something that which wasnt one, which reflects the struggle of monotheism against polytheism. Attribution of divinity to an entity, shirk, is considered a denial of the truth of God. Associating others with God is known as shirk and is the antithesis of Tawhid and it is usually but not always in the form of idolatry and supplicating to others than Allah, or believing that they hold the same attributes as him in an equal or lesser degree. Shirk is divided into two categories, Greater shirk, open and apparent, Lesser shirk, concealed or hidden, Greater Shirk consists of the above-mentioned deeds. A person commits lesser shirk or hidden polytheism when he claims to believe in God but his thoughts and actions do not reflect his belief. There are also forms of Shirk, they must be avoided as well. Within Islam, shirk is a crime, God may forgive any sin if one dies in that state except for committing shirk. Ali states that God is One means that God is away from likeness and numeration, the first step of religion is to accept, understand and realize him as the Lord. The correct form of belief in his unity is to realize that he is so absolutely pure and that is, one should realize that there is no difference between his person and his attributes, and his attributes should not be differentiated or distinguished from his person

5.
God in Islam
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In Islamic theology, God is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence. Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular, unique, inherently One, also all-merciful, the Surat 112 Al-Ikhlāş says, He is God, One. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent, in Islam, there are 99 known names of God, each of which evoke a distinct attribute of God. All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive god, among the 99 names of God, the most familiar and frequent of these names are the Compassionate and the Merciful. Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of mercy for which all creatures sing Gods attributes. Allah is the Arabic word referring to God in Abrahamic religions and it is distinguished from ilāh, the Arabic word meaning deity, which could refer to any of the gods worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia. God is described and referred to in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the Quran refers to the attributes of God as most beautiful names. According to Gerhard Böwering, They are traditionally enumerated as 99 in number to which is added as the highest Name, there are numerous conventional phrases and expressions invoking God. Islams most fundamental concept is a strict monotheism called tawhid, affirming that God is one, the basic creed of Islam, the Shahada, involves لا إله إلا الله, or, I testify there is no god other than God. Muslims reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, according to Vincent J. Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession. The deification or worship of anyone or anything other than God is the biggest sin in Islam, the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid. God is the creator of the universe and all the creatures in it, praise is to Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, made the angels messengers having wings, two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills, indeed, Allah is over all things competent. And it is We Who have constructed the heavens with might and verily and we created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, so blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a person and from Him He created his wife. And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord, the most commonly used names in the primary sources are Al-Rahman, meaning Most Compassionate and Al-Rahim, meaning Most Merciful. God is said to love forgiving, with a hadith stating God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance

6.
Prophets and messengers in Islam
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Belief in Islamic prophets is one of the six articles of the Islamic faith, and specifically mentioned in the Quran. Muslims believe the first prophet was also the first human being, Many of the revelations delivered by the 48 prophets in Judaism and many prophets of Christianity are mentioned as such in the Quran but usually in altered form and with different names. For example, the Jewish Elisha is called Alyasa, Job is Ayyub, Jesus is Isa, the Torah given to Moses is called Tawrat, the Psalms given to David is the Zabur, the Gospel given to Jesus is Injil). Notwithstanding, none of the seven Jewish Prophetesses are mentioned in the Quran as prophets, each came to preach Islam at different times in history and some told of the coming of the final Islamic prophet and messenger of God, who would be named Ahmed commonly known as Muhammad. Each Islamic prophet directed a message to a different group of people, in Arabic and Hebrew, the term nabī means prophet. Forms of this noun occur 75 times in the Quran, the term nubuwwah occurs five times in the Quran. The terms rasūl and mursal denote messenger or apostle and occur more than 300 times, the term for a prophetic message, risālah, appears in the Quran in ten instances. The Syriac form of rasūl Allāh, s̲h̲eliḥeh d-allāhā, occurs frequently in the apocryphal Acts of St. Thomas, the corresponding verb for s̲h̲eliḥeh—s̲h̲alaḥ, occurs in connection with the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The words prophet and messenger appear several times in the Old Testament, the following table shows these words in different languages, In the Hebrew Bible, the word navi occurs more commonly, and the Hebrew word malakh refers to Angels in Judaism. According to Judaism, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi were the last prophets, with them, the authentic period of Nevuah died, and nowadays only the Bath Kol exists. In the New Testament, however, the word becomes more frequent. Messenger may refer to Jesus, to his Apostles and to John the Baptist, but the last book of the Old Testament, the Book of Malachi, speaks of a messenger that Christian commentators interpret as a reference to the future prophet John the Baptist. In Muslim belief, every Islamic prophet preached Islam, the beliefs of charity, prayer, pilgrimage, worship of God and fasting are believed to have been taught by every prophet who has ever lived. The Quran itself calls Islam the religion of Abraham and refers to Jacob, the Quran speaks of the Islamic prophets as being the greatest human beings of all time. A prophet, in the Muslim sense of the term, is a person whom God specially chose to teach the faith of Islam, before man was created, God had specifically selected those men whom He would use as prophets. This does not, however, mean that every prophet began to prophesy from his birth, some were called to prophesy late in life, in Muhammads case at the age of 40. Others, such as John the Baptist, were called to prophesy while still at a young age, the Quran verse 4,69 lists various virtuous groups of human beings, among whom prophets occupy the highest rank. Verse 4,69 reads, All who obey Allah and the messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah—of the prophets, the sincere, the witnesses, and we have made the evil ones friends to those without faith

7.
Islamic view of angels
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Belief in Angels is one of the six Articles of Faith in Islam. They are considered heavenly beings without their own will unlike humans who perform tasks of God, the imagination of angels in Islam developed from the Quran and was influenced by other religions like Judaism and expanded by tafsir and the hadith literature. Angels take the role of performing different tasks of God. They are said to be created out of light, unlike humans or jinn, they have no biological needs and therefore no lower desires predicted by the natural world. They may be described as creatures of pure emotion and this is narrated in Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, book 56. Besides the personificated interpretation of angels, they are thought of carrying the laws of nature. Angels are not equal in status and consequently, they are delegated different tasks to perform, jibrail is the archangel responsible for revealing the Quran to Muhammad, verse by verse. Jibrail is the angel who communicates with the prophets and also for coming down with the blessings of Allah during the night of Laylat al-Qadr, mikail, who provides nourishments for bodies and souls. Mikail is often depicted as the archangel of mercy who is responsible for bringing rain, Israfil or Israafiyl, is an archangel in Islam who will blow the trumpet at the end of time. According to the hadith, Israfil is the responsible for signaling the coming of Qiyamah by blowing a horn. Azrael/Azraaiyl/Azrail also known as Malak al-maut, is the angel of death and he is responsible for parting the soul from the body of the deads. The angels of the Seven Heavens, hafaza, Kiraman Katibin, two of whom are charged to every human being, one writes down good deeds and another one writes down evil deeds. They are both described as Raqeebun Ateed in the Quran, muaqqibat who keep people from death until its decreed time and who bring down blessings. Jundullah, those who helped Muhammad in the battlefield Those who draw out the souls of the blessed and those angels who drive the clouds. The Angel of the Mountains Munkar and Nakir, who question the dead in their graves, dardail, who travel in the earth searching out assemblies where people remember Gods name. The angels charged with each existent thing, maintaining order and warding off corruption and their number is known only to God. Ridwan, the keeper of the Paradise, azazil is sometimes considered as an angel, who was the keeper of paradise and leader of an angelic army. He is also the instrument of divine anger, otherwise he is held for a Jinni raised to the angelic realm

8.
Islamic eschatology
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Islamic eschatology is the branch of Islamic scholarship that studies Yawm al-Qiyāmah or Yawm ad-Dīn. This is believed to be the final assessment of humanity by God, consisting of the annihilation of all life, resurrection, the time of the event is not specified, although there are major and minor signs which have been foretold to happen at al-Qiyamah. Many verses of the Quran contain the motif of the impending Last Judgment, surat al-Qiyama has as its main subject the resurrection. The Great Tribulation is also described in the hadith, and commentaries of the such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari. The Day of Judgment is also known as the Day of Reckoning, the hadith describe the end time with more specificity than the Quran, describing the events of al-Qiyamah through twelve major signs. At the time of judgment, terrible corruption and chaos will rule, the Mahdi will be sent and with the help of Jesus, will battle Masih ad-Dajjal. They will triumph, liberating Islam from cruelty, and this will be followed by a time of serenity with people living true to religious values, however, there is no mention of the advent of Mahdi and Isa in one era in any of the hadith. Some Muslim scholars translate the Arabic word Imam as Mahdi to prove the advent of Mahdi, like other Abrahamic religions, Islam also teaches resurrection of the dead, a final tribulation and eternal division of the righteous and wicked. Islamic apocalyptic literature describing Armageddon is often known as fitna, malāḥim, the righteous are rewarded with pleasures of Jannah Paradise, while the unrighteous are punished in Jahannam Hell. The Day of Judgment or Resurrection, al-Qiyāmah, is one of the six articles of faith in Islam. The tribulation associated with it is described in the Quran and hadith, and commentaries of ulama like al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, the Day of Judgment is also known as the Day of Reckoning, the Hour, and the Last Day. The Day of Judgment or Resurrection, al-Qiyāmah, relates to one of the six articles in Sunni Islam and seven articles in Shia Islam. There are two sources in Islamic scripture that discuss the Last Judgment, the Quran, which is viewed in Islam as infallible. Hadith are viewed with more flexibility due to the compilation of the traditions in written form. The concept has also discussed in commentaries of ulama such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir. The Quran describes the Last Judgment with a number of interpretations of its verses, there are specific aspects, The time is known only to God. Those who have been dead will believe that a time has passed between birth and death. God will resurrect all, even if they have turned to stone or iron and those that have accepted false deities will suffer in the afterlife

9.
Five Pillars of Islam
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The Five Pillars of Islam are five basic acts in Islam, considered mandatory by believers and are the foundation of Muslim life. They are summarized in the hadith of Gabriel. The Shia and Sunni both agree on the details for the performance and practice of these acts, but the Shia do not refer to them by the same name. They make up Muslim life, prayer, concern for the needy, self-purification, shahada is a declaration of faith and trust that professes that there is only one God and that Muhammad is Gods messenger. It is a set statement normally recited in Arabic, lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh There is no god but God Muhammad is the messenger of God and it is essential to utter it to become a Muslim and to convert to Islam. Salat consists of five daily prayers according to the Sunna, the names are according to the times, Fajr, Dhuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib. All of these prayers are recited while facing in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, Muslims must wash before prayer, this washing is called wudu. The prayer is accompanied by a series of set positions including, bowing with hands on knees, a Muslim may perform their prayer anywhere, such as in offices, universities, and fields. However, the mosque is the more preferable place for prayers because the mosque allows for fellowship, Zakāt or alms-giving is the practice of charitable giving based on accumulated wealth. The word zakāt can be defined as purification and growth because it allows an individual to achieve balance, the principle of knowing that all things belong to God is essential to purification and growth. Zakāt is obligatory for all Muslims who are able to do so and it is the personal responsibility of each Muslim to ease the economic hardship of others and to strive towards eliminating inequality. Zakāt consists of spending a portion of wealth for the benefit of the poor or needy. A Muslim may also donate more as an act of voluntary charity, There are five principles that should be followed when giving the zakāt, The giver must declare to God his intention to give the zakāt. The zakāt must be paid on the day that it is due, after the offering, the payer must not exaggerate on spending his money more than usual means. This means if one is then he or she needs to pay a portion of their income. If a person does not have money, then they should compensate for it in different ways, such as good deeds. The zakāt must be distributed in the community from which it was taken, three types of fasting are recognized by the Quran, Ritual fasting, fasting as compensation for repentance, and ascetic fasting. Ritual fasting is an act during the month of Ramadan

10.
Shahada
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The Shahada, is an Islamic creed declaring belief in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as Gods prophet. The declaration, in its shortest form, reads, لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadur-rasūlu-llāh There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God. Audio audio The noun šahāda, from the verbal root šahida meaning to observe, witness, testify, the Islamic creed is also called, in the dual form, šahādatān. The expression al-šahāda is used in Quran as one of the titles of God, in Sunni Islam, the shahada has two parts, la ilaha illallah, and Muhammadun rasul Allah, which are sometimes referred to as the first shahada and the second shahada. The first statement of the shahada is also known as the tahlīl, in the Quran, the first shahadah takes the form la ilaha illallah twice, and allahu la ilaha illa hu much more often. It appears in the form la ilaha illa Hu in many places. It appears in these forms about 30 times in the Quran, islams monotheistic nature is reflected in the first shahada, which declares belief in the oneness of God and that he is the only entity truly worthy of worship. The second shahada indicates the means by which God has offered guidance to human beings, the verse reminds Muslims that they accept not only the prophecy of Muhammad but also the long line of prophets who preceded him. While the first part is seen as a truth, the second is specific to Islam. Shahada is a statement of both ritual and worship, recitation of the shahādah is the most common statement of faith for Muslims. In Sunni Islam, it is counted as the first of the Five Pillars of Islam, while the Shii Twelvers and it is whispered by the father into the ear of a newborn child, and it is whispered into the ear of a dying person. The five canonical daily prayers include a recitation of the shahada. Recitation of the shahada in front of witnesses is also the first and this occasion often attracts more than the two required witnesses and sometimes includes a party-like celebration to welcome the convert into their new faith. In accordance with the importance played by the notion of intention in Islamic doctrine. Intention is what acts of devotion from mundane acts and a simple reading of the shahada from invoking it as a ritual activity. Though the two phrases of the shahada are both present in the Quran, they are not found there side by side as in the shahada formula. An inscription in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem reads There is no god but God alone, He has no partner with him, Muhammad is the messenger of God. Another variant appears in coins minted after the reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, although it is not clear when the shahada first came into common use among Muslims, it is clear that the sentiments it expresses were part of the Quran and Islamic doctrine from the earliest period

11.
Salah
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Salah, called namāz in some languages, is one of the Five Pillars in the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for every Muslim. It is a physical, mental, and spiritual act of worship that is observed five times every day at prescribed times, in this ritual, the worshiper starts standing, bows, prostrates themself, and concludes while sitting on the ground. During each posture, the worshiper recites or reads certain verses, phrases, the word salah is commonly translated as prayer but this definition might be confusing. Muslims use the words dua or supplication when referring to the definition of prayers which is reverent petitions made to God. Salah is preceded by ritual ablution, Salah consists of the repetition of a unit called a rakʿah consisting of prescribed actions and words. The number of obligatory rakaʿāt varies from two to four according to the time of day or other circumstances, prayer is obligatory for all Muslims except those who are prepubescent, are menstruating, or are experiencing bleeding in the 40 days after childbirth. Every movement in the salat is accompanied by the takbir except the standing between the ruku and sujud, and the ending which has a derivation of the Muslim greeting As-salamu alaykum, Salah is an Arabic word whose basic meaning is bowing, homage, worship, prayer. In its English usage, the reference of the word is almost always confined to the Muslim formal, Muslims themselves use several terms to refer to salah depending on their language or culture. In many parts of the world, including many non-Arab countries such as Indonesia, the other major term is the Persian word namāz, used by speakers of the Indo-Iranian languages, as well as Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Bosnian and Albanian. In North Caucasian languages, the term is lamaz in Chechen and this is a book, there is no doubt in it, a guidance for righteous. Those who believe in unseen and offer Salah and spend from what we have given to them, and those who believe in what We have revealed to thee and what We revealed before thee, and on hereafter they believe. They are on guidance from their lord and they are successful, and offer Salah and pay Zakah and bow along those who bow. Guard your Salah and middle Salah, and stand before God devoutly obedient, then if you fear on foot or riding, then when you become secure remember God as he has taught you that which you did not know previously. And offer Salah at the two ends of day and at the approach of night, indeed good deeds remove bad deeds, offer Salah at the decline of the day until the darkness of night, and Quran at dawn, indeed Quran at dawn ever is a witness. And at night pray Tahajjud an extra for thee, it is expected that your lord raise you to praised station. ) Say call God or call Merciful, by whomever you call, He has good names, and offer Salah and pay Zakah and obey Messenger so that you may receive mercy. And recite that is revealed to you as a book and offer Salah, indeed Salah prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and remembrance of God is great, ) The chief purpose of salah is to act as a persons communication with and remembrance of God. By reciting The Opening, the first sura of the Quran, as required in daily worship, the worshiper can stand before God, thank and praise Him, under the Hanbali School of thought, a person who doesnt pray five times a day is an unbeliever

12.
Fasting in Islam
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Fasting in Islam, known as Sawm or siyam صيام, the Arabic words for fasting, is abstaining from eating and drinking. In the terminology of Islamic law, sawm means to abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours, the observance of sawm during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but is not confined to that month. Sawm is a cognate to Syriac, ܨܘܡܐ‎ ṣawmā. Literally, it means to abstain, cognates to Hebrew tsom, fasting is not unique to the Muslims. It has been practiced for centuries in connection with religious ceremonies by Christians, Jews, Confucianists, Hindus, Taoists, for example, the Muslims of Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey use the words roza/rozha/roja/oruç, which comes from Farsi. While the Malay community in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore call it puasa, Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking and engaging in conjugal sexual relationships from dawn to sunset. Fasting helps Muslims develop self-control, gain an understanding of God’s gifts. Fasting in Islam involves abstaining from all bodily pleasures between dawn and sunset, not only is food forbidden, but also any sexual activity. All things which are regarded as prohibited is even more so in this month, each and every moment during the fast, a person suppresses their passions and desires in loving obedience to God. This consciousness of duty and the spirit of patience helps in strengthening ones faith, fasting helps a person gain self-control. A person who abstains from permissible things like food and drink is likely to feel conscious of his sins, a heightened sense of spirituality helps break the habits of lying, staring with lust at the opposite sex, gossiping, and wasting time. Fasting is also viewed as a means of controlling ones desires, Sawm also carries a significant spiritual meaning. It teaches one the principle of God Consciousness, because when one observes fasting, it is out of deep love for God. Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, the month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion. And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, number of other days. God desireth for you ease, he desireth not hardship for you, and that ye should complete the period, and that ye should magnify God for having guided you, the intention means resolving to fast. It is essential to have the intention the night before, night by night, throughout the duration of the fast itself, Muslims will abstain from certain provisions that the Quran has otherwise allowed, namely eating, drinking and sexual intercourse. This is in addition to the standard obligation already observed by Muslims of avoiding that which is not permissible under Quranic or sharia law, without observing this standard obligation, sawm is rendered useless and is seen simply as an act of starvation

13.
Hajj
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It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world, the state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istitaah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, the word Hajj means to intend a journey, which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah, because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, Pilgrims can also go to Mecca to perform the rituals at other times of the year. This is sometimes called the lesser pilgrimage, or Umrah, the present pattern of Hajj was established by Muhammad. However, according to the Quran, elements of Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham, according to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca. In search of water, Hagar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah but found none, returning in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain sprang forth underneath his foot. Later, Abraham was commanded to build the Kaaba and to people to perform pilgrimage there. The Quran refers to incidents in verses 2, 124-127 and 22. It is said that the archangel Gabriel brought the Black Stone from Heaven to be attached to the Kaaba, in pre-Islamic Arabia, a time known as jahiliyyah, the Kaaba became surrounded by pagan idols. In 630 CE, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, in 632 CE, Muhammad performed his only and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and instructed them on the rites of Hajj. It was from this point that Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam. During the medieval times, pilgrims would gather in big cities of Syria, Egypt and this was done in order to protect the caravan from Bedouin robbers or natural hazards, and to ensure that the pilgrims were supplied with the necessary provisions. Muslim travelers like Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta have recorded detailed accounts of Hajj-travels of medieval time, the caravans followed well-established routes called in Arabic darb al-hajj, lit. Pilgrimage road, which usually followed ancient routes such as the Kings Highway, the date of Hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a period, starting on 8 and ending on 12 Dhu al-Hijjah

14.
Sharia
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Sharia, Sharia law, or Islamic law is the religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran. In Arabic, the term refers to Gods divine law and is contrasted with fiqh. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists, traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources of sharia, the Quran, sunnah, qiyas, and ijma. Traditional jurisprudence distinguishes two branches of law, ʿibādāt and muʿāmalāt, which together comprise a wide range of topics. Its rulings assign actions to one of five categories, mandatory, recommended, permitted, abhorred, thus, some areas of sharia overlap with the Western notion of law while others correspond more broadly to living life in accordance with God’s will. Historically, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists, ottoman rulers achieved additional control over the legal system by promulgating their own legal code and turning muftis into state employees. Non-Muslim communities had legal autonomy, except in cases of interconfessional disputes, in the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models. Judicial procedures and legal education in the Muslim world were brought in line with European practice. While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, legislative bodies which codified these laws sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence. The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for full implementation of sharia, including reinstatement of hudud corporal punishments, in some cases, this resulted in traditionalist legal reform, while other countries witnessed juridical reinterpretation of sharia advocated by progressive reformers. The role of sharia has become a contested topic around the world, attempts to impose it on non-Muslims have caused intercommunal violence in Nigeria and may have contributed to the breakup of Sudan. Some Muslim-minority countries in Asia, Africa and Europe recognize the use of sharia-based family laws for their Muslim populations, there are ongoing debates as to whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights, freedom of thought, and womens rights. The word sharīʿah is used by Arabic-speaking peoples of the Middle East to designate a prophetic religion in its totality, for example, sharīʿat Mūsā means law or religion of Moses and sharīʿatu-nā can mean our religion in reference to any monotheistic faith. Within Islamic discourse, šarīʿah refers to regulations governing the lives of Muslims. For many Muslims, the word means simply justice, and they will consider any law that promotes justice, Muslims of different perspectives agree in their respect for the abstract notion of sharia, but they differ in how they understand the practical implications of the term. Classical sharia, the body of rules and principles elaborated by Islamic jurists during the first centuries of Islam, historical sharia, the body of rules and interpretations developed throughout Islamic history, ranging from personal beliefs to state legislation and varying across an ideological spectrum. Classical sharia has often served as a point of reference for these variants, Contemporary sharia, the full spectrum of rules and interpretations that are developed and practiced at present

15.
Quran
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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation

16.
Tafsir
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Tafsir is the Arabic word for exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of tafsir is a mufassir, a Quranic tafsir will often explain content and provide places and times, not contained in Quranic verses, as well as give the different views and opinions of scholars on the verse. The word tafsīr is derived from the Arabic root, F-S-R which means to explain, to expound, to disclose. In Islamic contexts, it is defined as understanding and uncovering the Will of Allah which has been conveyed by the Quranic text, by means of the Arabic language and one’s own knowledge. As the Quran was revealed to him, he recited the verses to his companions and this was one of Muhammads responsibilities. Elements of Muhammads explanations are, Clarifying verses whose intents are not understood Indication of names, places, times etc. These interpretations have not been collected independently in a book, rather, they have recorded in hadith books, under the topic of tafsir. After the death of Muhammad, his companions, the sahabah, undertook the task of interpretation, most of the sahabah, including Abu Bakr, refrained from commenting with their personal views, and only narrated comments by Muhammad. Others including ibn Abbas used their own knowledge from the Arabic language to interpret the Quran, by the time of the next generations ensuing the Sahabah, the tabiin scholars started using a wide range of sources for tafsir. The whole of the Quran is interpreted, and narrations are separated from tafsir into separate books, grammatical explanations and historical data are preserved within these books, personal opinions are recorded, whether accepted or rejected. The mufasireen listed 15 fields that must be mastered before one can interpret the Quran. Classical Arabic, Is how one learns the meaning of each word, mujahid ibn Jabr said, “It is not permissible for one who holds faith in Allah and the Day of Judgment to speak on the Quran without learning classical Arabic. Arabic Philology, Is important because any change in the diacritical marks affects the meaning, Arabic morphology, is important because changes in the configuration of verb and noun forms change the meaning. Ibn Faris said, “A person who misses out on Arabic morphology has missed out on a lot. ”Al-Ishtiqaaq and this is the science of etymology which explains the reciprocal relation and radical composition between the root and derived word. For example, masih derives from the root word masah which means “to feel something and to something with a wet hand, ”. Ilm al-Bayaan, is the science by which one learns the similes, metaphors, metonymies, zuhoor, ilm al-Badi’, The science by which one learns to interpret sentences which reveal the beauty and eloquence of the spoken and written word. The above-mentioned three sciences are categorized as Ilm-ul-Balagha and it is one of the most important sciences to a mufassir because he is able to reveal the miraculous nature of the Quran through these three sciences. Ilm al-Qiraat, Dialecticisms of the different readings of the Quran and this science is important because one qiraat of the Quran may differ in meaning from another, and one learns to favor one reading over another based on the difference in the meanings

17.
Sunnah
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Sunnah is the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as various reports about Muhammads companions. The Quran and the Sunnah make up the two sources of Islamic theology and law. The Sunnah is also defined as a path, a way, in the pre-Islamic period, the word sunnah was used with the meaning manner of acting, whether good or bad. During the early Islamic period, the term came to refer to any good precedent set by people of the past, the sunnah of Muhammad includes his specific words, habits, practices, and silent approvals. Instituting these practices was, as the Quran states, a part of Muhammads responsibility as a messenger of God, recording the sunnah was an Arabian tradition and, once people converted to Islam, they brought this custom to their religion. The word Sunnah is also used to refer to religious duties that are optional, Sunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. Sunni Muslims are also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jamāah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short, some early Sunnî Muslim scholars reportedly used the term the Sunnah narrowly to refer to Sunnî Doctrine as opposed to the creeds of Shia and other non-Sunni sects. According to Fazlur Rhaman, Sunnah is a behavior concept and this concept could be applied on mental and physical acts, in other words, sunnah counted as a law of behavior. This behavior belongs to conscious agents who can possess their acts, besides, sunnah counted as normative moral law. Sunnah also means the practice which gains the status of normative. A similar in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and Wisdom, and in new knowledge. Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, the teachings of wisdom have been declared to be a function of Muhammad along with the teachings of the scripture. Several Quranic verses mention wisdom coupled with scripture or the book, surah 4, ayah 113 states, For Allah hath sent down to thee the Book and wisdom and taught thee what thou Knewest not, And great is the Grace of Allah unto thee. Surah 2, ayah 231. but remember Allahs grace upon you, surah 33, ayah 34, And bear in mind which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God and of wisdom. Therefore, along with divine revelation the sunnah was directly taught by God, modern Sunni scholars are beginning to examine both the sira and the hadith in order to justify modifications to jurisprudence. The sunnah, in one form or another, would retain its role in providing a moral example. For Muslims the imitation of Muhammad helps one to know and be loved by God, and We have also sent down unto you the reminder and the advice, that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought. And We have not sent down the Book to you, except that you may explain clearly unto them those things in which they differ, and a guidance and a mercy for a folk who believe

18.
Prophetic biography
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In the Arabic language the word sīra or sīrat comes from the verb sāra, which means to travel or to be on a journey. A persons sīra is that person’s journey through life, or biography, encompassing their birth, events in their life, manners and characteristics, in modern usage it may also refer to a persons resume. It is sometimes written as seera, sirah or sirat, all meaning life or journey, in Islamic literature, the plural form, siyar, could also refer to the rules of war and dealing with non-Muslims. The phrase sīrat rasūl allāh, or al-sīra al-nabawiyya, refers to the study of the life of Muhammad, the term sīra was first linked to the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, and later popularized by the work of Ibn Hisham. In the first two centuries of Islamic history, sīra was more known as maghāzī, which is now considered to be only a subset of sīra. Early works of sīra consist of historical reports, or akhbār. Sometimes the word tradition or hadith is used instead, the sīra literature includes a variety of heterogeneous materials, containing mainly stories of military expeditions undertaken by Muhammad and his companions. These stories are intended as historical accounts and used for veneration, the sīra also includes a number of written documents, such as political treaties, military enlistments, assignments of officials, letters to foreign rulers, and so forth. It also records some of the speeches and sermons made by Muhammad, some of the sīra accounts include verses of poetry commemorating certain events and battles. While some of which are considered to be of a quality and lacking authenticity. At later periods, certain type of stories included in sīra developed into their own separate genres, one genre is concerned with stories of prophetic miracles, called aʿlām al-nubuwa. Another genre, called faḍāʾil wa mathālib — tales that show the merits and faults of individual companions, enemies, and other notable contemporaries of Muhammad. Some works of sīra also positioned the story of Muhammad as part of a narrative that includes stories of prophets, Persian Kings, pre-Islamic Arab tribes. Parts of sīra were inspired by, or elaborate upon, events mentioned in the Quran and these parts were often used by writers of tafsir and asbab al-nuzul to provide background information for events mentioned in certain ayat. The main difference between a hadith and a report is that a hadith is not concerned with an event as such. Rather the purpose of hadith is to record a religious doctrine as a source of Islamic law. By contrast, while a khabar may carry some legal or theological implications, in terms of structure, a hadith and a khabar are very similar. Thus starting from the 8th and 9th century, many scholars have devoted their efforts to both kinds of texts equally, also some historians consider the sīra and maghāzī literature to be a subset of Hadith

19.
Fiqh
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Figuratively, fiqh means, knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their sources. He must look deep down into a matter and not suffice himself with just the apparent meaning, a person who only knows the appearance of a matter is not a faqīh. Conceptually, the attempt to understand divine law. Whereas shariah is immutable and infallible, fiqh is fallible and changeable, fiqh is distinguished from usul al-fiqh, the methods of legal interpretation and analysis. Fiqh is the product of application of usul al-fiqh, the product of human efforts at understanding the divine will. A hukm is a ruling in a given case. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam, in the modern era, there are four prominent schools of fiqh within Sunni practice, plus two within Shia practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a Faqih, the word fiqh is an Arabic term meaning deep understanding or full comprehension. Technically it refers to the body of Islamic law extracted from detailed Islamic sources and this definition is consistent amongst the jurists. In Modern Standard Arabic, fiqh has come to mean jurisprudence in general and it is separated in Sunni, shia and others. Qiyas, i. e. analogy which is deployed if Ijma or historic collective reasoning on the issue is not available. For example, the Quran states one needs to engage in prayers and fast during the month of Ramadan. Details about these issues can be found in the traditions of Muhammad, so Quran, some topics are without precedent in Islams early period. In those cases, Muslim jurists try to arrive at conclusions by other means, Sunni jurists use historical consensus of the community, a majority in the modern era also use analogy and weigh the harms and benefits of new topics, and a plurality utilizes juristic preference. The conclusions arrived at with the aid of additional tools constitute a wider array of laws than the Sharia consists of. Thus, in contrast to the sharia, fiqh is not regarded as sacred and this division of interpretation in more detailed issues has resulted in different schools of thought. This wider concept of Islamic jurisprudence is the source of a range of laws in different topics that guide Muslims in everyday life, Islamic jurisprudence covers two main areas, Rules in relation to actions, and, Rules in relation to circumstances surrounding actions. The Sunni schools are Hanafi Maliki Shafii Hanbali see Wahhabism Zahiri Qurtubi No longer exists Laythi No longer exists, the schools of Shia Islam comprise, Jafari Zaydi Entirely separate from both the Sunni and Shia traditions, Khawarij Islam has evolved its own distinct school

20.
History of Islam
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The history of Islam concerns the political, economic, social, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Despite concerns about reliability of sources, most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca. A century later, the Islamic empire extended from Iberia in the west to the Indus river in the east, polities such as those ruled by the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, and Mamluks were among the most influential powers in the world. The Islamic civilization gave rise to many centers of culture and science and produced notable astronomers, mathematicians, during the 19th and early 20th centuries most parts of the Muslim world fell under influence or direct control of European Great Powers. Their efforts to win independence and build modern nation states over the course of the last two centuries continue to reverberate to the present day, the following timeline can serve as a rough visual guide to the most important polities in the Islamic world prior to the First World War. It covers major historical centers of power and culture, including Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Levant, Egypt, Maghreb, al-Andalus, Transoxania, Hindustan, dates are approximate, consult particular articles for details. The study of the earliest periods in Islamic history is difficult by a lack of sources. For example, the most important historiographical source for the origins of Islam is the work of al-Tabari, while al-Tabari was an excellent historian by the standards of his time and place, use of his work as a source is problematic for two reasons. For one, his style of historical writing permitted liberal use of mythical, legendary, stereotyped, distorted, Second, al-Tabaris descriptions of the beginning of Islam post-date the events by a large amount of time, al-Tabari having died in 923 CE. Differing views about how to deal with the sources has led to the development of four different approaches to the history of early Islam. All four methods have some level of support today, the descriptive method uses the outlines of Islamic traditions, while being adjusted for the stories of miracles and faith-centred claims within those sources. Edward Gibbon and Gustav Weil represent some of the first historians following the descriptive method, on the source critical method, a comparison of all the sources is sought in order to identify which informants to the sources are weak and thereby distinguish spurious material. The work of William Montgomery Watt and that of Wilferd Madelung are two source critical examples, on the tradition critical method, the sources are believed to be based on oral traditions with unclear origins and transmission history, and so are treated very cautiously. Ignaz Goldziher was the pioneer of the critical method. The skeptical method doubts nearly all of the material in the traditional sources, an early example of the skeptical method was the work of John Wansbrough. Nowadays, the popularity of the different methods employed varies on the scope of the works under consideration, for overview treatments of the history of early Islam, the descriptive approach is more popular. For scholars who look at the beginnings of Islam in depth, after the 8th century CE, the quality of sources improves. For the time prior to the beginning of Islam—in the 6th century CE—sources are superior as well, Islam arose within the context of Late Antiquity

21.
Muhammad in Islam
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Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim, in short form Muhammad, is considered by Muslims to be the last Rasul and Nabi sent by Allah to guide humanity to the right way. The religious, social, and political tenets that Muhammad established in the light of Quran became the foundation of Islam, Muslims often refer to Muhammad as Prophet Muhammad, or just The Prophet or The Messenger, and regard him as the greatest of all Prophets. He is seen by Muslims as a possessor of all the virtues, as an act of respect, Muslims follow the name of Muhammad by the Arabic benediction sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, a practice instructed by Qur’an and Hadith. The deeds and sayings in the life of Muhammad – known as Sunnah – are considered a model of the life-style that Muslims are obliged to follow. Recognizing Muhammad as Gods final messenger is one of the requirements in Islam which is clearly laid down in the second part of the Shahadah. The Qur’an chiefly refers to Muhammad as Messenger and Messenger of God, and asks people to him so as to become successful in this life. Born in about 570 CE into a respected Qurayshi family of Mecca, because of persecution of the newly converted Muslims, upon the invitation of a delegation from Medina, Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in 622 CE, an event known as Hijra. A turning point in Muhammads life, this Hijra also marks the beginning of Islamic calendar. Despite the ongoing hostility of the Meccans, Muhammad, along with his followers, took control of Mecca in 630 CE, treated its citizens with generosity, and ordered to destroy all the pagan idols. By the time he died in 632, his teachings had won the acceptance of Islam by almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. The Qur’an enumerates little about Muhammads early life or other details, but it talks about his prophetic mission, his moral excellence. According to the Qur’an, Muhammad is the last in a chain of prophets sent by God, throughout the Qur’an, Muhammad is referred to as Messenger, Messenger of God, and Prophet. Some of such verses are 2,101,2,143,2,151,3,32,3,81,3,144,3,164,4, 79-80,5,15,5,41,7,157,8,01,9,3,33,40,48,29, and 66,09. Other terms are used, including Warner, bearer of glad tidings, the Quran asserts that Muhammad was a man who possessed the highest moral excellence, and that God made him a good example or a goodly model for Muslims to follow. The Quran disclaims any superhuman characteristics for Muhammad, but describes him in terms of human qualities. In several verses, the Quran crystallizes Muhammad’s relation to humanity, according to the Quran, God sent Muhammad with truth, and as a blessing to the whole world. The Quran also categorizes some theological issues regarding Muhammad, the most important among them is the edict to follow the teachings of Muhammad. The Quran repeatedly commands people to follow God and his Messenger in verses including 3, 31-32,3,132,4,59, and 4,69

22.
Ahl al-Bayt
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Ahl al-Bayt is a phrase meaning, literally, People of the House or Family of the House. Within the Islamic tradition, the term refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, in Shia Islam the Ahl al-Bayt are central to Islam and interpreters of the Quran and Sunnah. Shias believe they are successors of Muhammad and consist of Muhammad, Fatimah, Ali, Hasan, and Husayn and the Imams, there are differing opinions on the scope and importance of Ahl al-Bayt. Sometimes the descendants of his uncles, Abu Talib and al-‘Abbas are included as well. Some Sunnis consider only the family up until Hasan ibn Ali, the Ummayad Caliph, Muawiyah I, was the one to oppose Ali, member of the Ahlul Bayt, and cousin and brother in law to Muhammad. Following Muawiyah Is rule, his successor and offspring, Yazid I, Bayt refers to habitation and dwelling, whether tented or built. It can also be translated as household. The Ahl-Al-Bayt of a person refers to his members and all those who live in his house. Ahlul Bayt is the form of addressing the members and wife of the family. The Quran uses the term Ahl al-Bayt twice as a term of respect for wives, the first instance refers to Muhammads wives, and the second refers to Abrahams wife Sara. According to some interpretations, the Quran also implicitly refers to Ahl al-Bayt in 42,23 using the term al-qurbā, there has been much debate concerning which people constitute Ahl al-Bayt. Although there have been disagreements, there is a consensus amongst Sunni and Shia Muslims that the Ahl al-Kisa hadith refers specifically to Ali, Fatimah, Hasan. Mention of the Ahl al-Bayt, Muhammads household, is present in a verse of the Quran as follows, O wives of the Prophet. You are not like any other of the women, If you will be on guard, then be not soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease yearn. And stay in houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore, and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate. Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House, and to purify you a purifying. And keep to mind what is recited in your houses of the communications of Allah, the precise definition of the term in this verse has been subject to varying interpretations. In one tradition, according to which Muhammads companion Salman al-Farsi is included as a member, it is used to distinguish from the muhajirun and this is supported by various traditions attributed to Muhammad wherein he addresses each of his wives as Ahl al-Bayt

23.
Sahabah
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The term aṣ-ṣaḥābah refers to the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This form is definite plural, the singular is masculine sahabi. Later scholars accepted their testimony of the words and deeds of Muhammad, the testimony of the companions, as it was passed down through trusted chains of narrators, was the basis of the developing Islamic tradition. The most widespread definition of a companion is someone who met Muhammad, believed in him and died as a Muslim. ”Anyone who died after rejecting Islam and those who saw him but held off believing in him until after his passing are not considered Sahaba but Tabiin. In their view, the Quran has outlined a high level of faith as one of the qualities of the Sahabah. Hence, they admit to this list only those individuals who had contact with Muhammad, lived with him. This view has implications in Islamic law since narrations of Muhammad transmitted through the Sahabah acquire a status of authenticity. Lists of prominent companions usually run to 50 or 60 names, the book entitled Istîâb fî marifat-il-Ashâb by Hafidh Yusuf bin Muhammad bin Qurtubi consists of 2,770 biographies of male and 381 biographies of female Sahabah. According to an observation in the book entitled Mawâhib-i-ladunniyya, a number of persons had already converted to Islam by the time Muhammad died. There were 10,000 by the time Mecca was conquered and 70,000 during the Battle of Tabouk in 630. Some Muslims assert that they were more than 200,000 in number, indeed, He was to them Kind and Merciful. In Islam, there are three types of Sahabah, The people who were Muslims at the time of Badr, but those who believed and did not emigrate - for you there is no guardianship of them until they emigrate. And if they seek help of you for the religion, then you must help, and Allah is Seeing of what you do. Quran, sura 8, ayah 72 And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, and you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking bounty from Allah and their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah, Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward. The people who were Muslims before victory at Mecca and went into exile and they are also high in degree, especially those who were present at Hudabiyah

24.
Rashidun
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The concept of Rightly Guided Caliphs originated with the later Abbasid Caliphate based in Baghdad. It is a reference to the Sunni imperative Hold firmly to my example, the first four Caliphs who ruled after the death of Muhammad are often described as the Khulafāʾ Rāshidūn. The Rashidun were either elected by a council or chosen based on the wishes of their predecessor, in the order of succession, the Rāshidūn were, Abu Bakr. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, – Umar is often spelled Omar in some Western scholarship, ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan – Uthman is often spelled Othman in some non-Arabic scholarship. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib – During this period however, Mu‘awiyah I controlled the Levantine, in addition to this, there are several views regarding additional rashidun. Al-Hasan, the eldest grandson of Muhammad, briefly succeeded ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib as caliph in 661 CE, Al-Hasan abdicated his right to the caliphate in favour of Mu‘awiyah I in order to end the potential for ruinous civil war. ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Aziz, who was one of the Umayyad caliphs, has often been regarded by Sunni historians as one of the Rashidun, more rarely, the Ottoman caliph Fatih Sultan Mehmed is also sometimes regarded to be among the rightly guided caliphs. In the Ibadi tradition however, only the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar are considered to be the Two Rightly Guided Caliphs, ibn Hajar al-Asqalani also includes the Abbasid caliphs, including Harun al-Rashid, in his enumeration. Abu Bakr was a companion and the father-in-law of Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammads death, Abu Bakr was called Al-Siddiq and was known by that title among later generations of Muslims. ‘Umar c.2 Nov. was a companion and adviser to Muhammad. He succeeded Abu Bakr on 23 August 634 as the second caliph, under Umar the Islamic empire expanded at an unprecedented rate ruling the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. Among his conquests are Jerusalem, Damascus, and Egypt and he was killed by a Persian captive. Uthman ibn Affan was one of the companions of Muhammad, ‘Uthman was born into the Umayyad clan of Mecca, a powerful family of the Quraysh tribe. He became caliph at the age of 70, under his leadership, the empire expanded into Fars in 650 and some areas of Khorasan in 651, and the conquest of Armenia was begun in the 640s. His rule ended when he was assassinated, the committee members were also reciters of the Quran and had memorised the entire text during the lifetime of Muhammad. This work was due to the vast expansion of Islam under Uthmans rule. This had led to variant readings of the Qur’an for those converts who were not familiar with the language, after clarifying any possible errors in pronunciation or dialects, ‘Uthman sent copies of the sacred text to each of the Muslim cities and garrison towns, and destroyed variant texts

25.
Imamah (Shia)
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In Shia Islam, the imamah is the doctrine that the figures known as imams are rightfully the central figures of the ummah, the entire Shiite system of doctrine focuses on the imamah. These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Quran as well as guidance to their followers as is the case of the living Imams of the Nizari Ismaili tariqah. According to Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, the Imam is a means through which humans receive divine grace, because He brings men closer to obedience, as fulfilling the human being is his wish, it is logical that God appoints Imams to subject man to his wishes. So his existence and his deeds display two forms of grace of God toward man, the word Imām denotes a person who stands or walks in front. For Sunni Islam, the word is used to mean a person who leads the course of prayer in the mosque. It also means the head of a madhhab, all Muslims believe that Muhammad had said, To whomsoever I am Mawla, Ali is his Mawla. This hadith has been narrated in different ways by different sources in no less than 45 hadith books of both Sunni and Shia collections. This hadith has also narrated by the collector of hadiths, al-Tirmidhi,3713, as well as Ibn Maajah,121. The major point of conflict between the Sunni and the Shia is in the interpretation of the word Mawla, for the Shia the word means Lord and Master and has the same elevated significance as when the term had been used to address Muhammad himself during his lifetime. However, for the Sunnis the word means the beloved or the revered and has no other significance at all. Each succession dispute brought forth a different tariqah within Shia Islam, each Shia tariqah followed its own particular Imams dynasty, thus resulting in different numbers of Imams for each particular Shia tariqah. When the dynastic line of the separating successor Imam ended with no heir to succeed him, then either he or his successor was believed to have gone into concealment. The Shia tariqah with a majority of adherents are the Twelvers who are known as the Shia. After that come the Nizari Ismailis commonly known as the Ismailis, the Druze tariqah initially were part of the Fatimid Ismailis and separated from them after the death of the Fatimid Imam and Caliph al Hakim Bi Amrillah. The Shia Sevener tariqah no longer exists, another small tariqah is the Zaidi Shias, also known as the Fivers and who do not believe in The Occultation of their last Imam. Although all these different Shia tariqahs belong to the Shia group in Islam, the Shia Nizari Ismailis by definition have to have a present and living Imam until the end of time. Thus if any living Nizari Ismaili Imam fails to leave behind a successor after him then the Nizari Ismailism’s cardinal principle would be broken and it’s very raison dêtre would come to an end. They refer to the verse 5,3 of Quran which was revealed to the prophet when he appointed Ali as his successor at the day of Ghadir Khumm, regarding 17,71, no age can be without an Imam

26.
Caliphate
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A caliphate is an area containing an Islamic steward known as a caliph —a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and a leader of the entire Muslim community. During the history of Islam after the Rashidun period, many Muslim states, the Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt, before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title malik, or another from the same root. The term caliph, derives from the Arabic word khalīfah, which means successor, steward, however, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was successor selected by God. There was no specified procedure for this shura or consultation, candidates were usually, but not necessarily, from the same lineage as the deceased leader. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual heir, Sunni Muslims believe that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure. Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus, the Shia believe that Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, was chosen by Muhammad as his spiritual and temporal successor as the Mawla of all Muslims in the event of Ghadir Khumm. The caliph was often known as Amir al-Muminin, Muhammad established his capital in Medina, after he died, it remained the capital during the Rashidun Caliphate, before Kufa was reportedly made the capital by Caliph Ali. At times there have been rival claimant caliphs in different parts of the Islamic world, according to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph to be called Amir al-Muminin was Abu Bakr, followed by Umar, the second of the Rashidun. Uthman and Ali also were called by the title, while the Shia consider Ali to have been the only truly legitimate caliph. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the system of Caliphate in Islam as part of his secular reforms, the Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Muminin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate. Some Muslim countries, including Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia, were never subject to the authority of a Caliphate, with the exception of Aceh, consequently, these countries had their own, local, sultans or rulers who did not fully accept the authority of the Caliph. Abu Bakr, the first successor of Muhammad, nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, Umar, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi. His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors, Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and he faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a Khawarij. Alis tumultuous rule lasted only five years and this period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shia minority sect of Islam, the followers of all four Rashidun Caliphs became the majority Sunni sect. Under the Rashidun each region of the Caliphate had its own governor, Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor of Syria, succeeded Ali as Caliph

27.
Spread of Islam
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Trading played an important role in the spread of Islam in several parts of the world, notably southeast Asia. Islamic expansion in South and East Asia fostered cosmopolitan and eclectic Muslim cultures in the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. As of January 2011, there were 1.62 billion Muslims, with one out of five people in the world being Muslim, the Islamic religion is still the second most populous religion as of 2016. The expansion of the Arab Empire in the first centuries after Muhammads death soon established Muslim dynasties in North Africa, West Africa, to the Middle East, and Somalia. For the subjects of this new empire, formerly subjects of the greatly reduced Byzantine, the objective of the conquests was more than anything of a practical nature, as fertile land and water were scarce in the Arabian peninsula. A real Islamization therefore only came about in the subsequent centuries, Islam was introduced in Somalia in the 7th century when the Muslim Arabs fled from the persecution of the Pagan Quraysh tribe. When the Muslims defeated the Pagans, some returned to Arabia, the local Somalis adopted the Islamic faith well before the faith even took root in its place of origin. Conversion initially was neither required nor necessarily wished for, did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples, at the outset, they were hostile to conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of the Arabs. Only in subsequent centuries, with the development of the doctrine of Islam and with that the understanding of the Muslim ummah. The caliphs of the Arab dynasty established the first schools inside the empire which taught Arabic language, at the end of the Umayyad period, less than 10% of the people in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Spain were Muslim. Only on the Arabian peninsula was the proportion of Muslims among the higher than this. Expansion ceased and the disciplines of Islamic philosophy, theology, law and mysticism became more widespread. These initial conversions were of a flexible nature, the reasons why, by the end of the 10th century, a large part of the population had converted to Islam are diverse. According to British-Lebanese historian Albert Hourani, one of the reasons may be that Islam had become clearly defined. Muslims now lived within a system of ritual, doctrine. The status of Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians was more precisely defined and they were regarded as the People of the Book, those who possessed a revealed scripture, or People of the Covenant, with whom compacts of protection had been made. In general they were not forced to convert, but they suffered from restrictions and they paid a special tax, they were not supposed to wear certain colors, they could not marry Muslim women. It should be pointed out that most of these laws were elaborations of basic laws concerning non-Muslims in the Quran, Albert Hourani points towards interwoven terms of political and economic benefits and of a sophisticated culture and religion as appealing to the masses

28.
Islamic culture
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Islamic culture is a term primarily used in secular academia to describe the cultural practices common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture were predominantly Arab, Islamic culture generally includes all the practices which have developed around the religion of Islam, including Quranic ones such as prayer and non-Quranic such as divisions of the world in Islam. It includes as the Baul tradition of Bengal, and facilitated the conversion of most of Bengal. There are variations in the application of Islamic beliefs in different cultures, Islamic culture is itself a contentious term. Muslims live in different countries and communities, and it can be difficult to isolate points of cultural unity among Muslims. Anthropologists and historians nevertheless study Islam as an aspect of, and influence on, the noted historian of Islam, Marshall Hodgson, noted the above difficulty of religious versus secular academic usage of the words Islamic and Muslim in his three-volume work, The Venture Of Islam. He proposed to resolve it by using these terms for purely religious phenomena. However, his distinction has not been widely adopted, early Muslim literature is in Arabic, as that was the language of Muhammads communities in Mecca and Medina. As the early history of the Muslim community was focused on establishing the religion of Islam, see the articles on Quran, Hadith, and Sirah, which formed the earliest literature of the Muslim community. With the establishment of the Umayyad empire, see The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. While having no content, this secular literature was spread by the Arabs all over their empires. By the time of the Abbasid empire, Persian had become the language of Muslim World. Much of the most famous Muslim literature was written in Persian, from Rumi in Anatolia, to Nizami in the Caucasus, to Jami in Samarkand, from the 11th century, there was a growing body of Islamic literature in the Turkic languages. However, for centuries to come the official language in Turkish-speaking areas would remain Persian, in Anatolia, with the advent of the Seljuks, the practise and usage of Persian in the region would be strongly revived. A branch of the Seljuks, the Sultanate of Rum, took Persian language, art and they adopted Persian language as the official language of the empire. The Ottomans, which can roughly be seen as their eventual successors, after a period of several centuries, Ottoman Turkish had developed towards a fully accepted language of literature, which was even able to satisfy the demands of a scientific presentation. However, the number of Persian and Arabic loanwords contained in those works increased at times up to 88%. With the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish grew in importance in both poetry and prose becoming, by the beginning of the 18th century, the language of the Empire

29.
Muslim world
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The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, comprising all those who adhere to the religion of Islam, or to societies where Islam is practiced. In a modern sense, these terms refer to countries where Islam is widespread. In the modern era, most of the Muslim world came under influence or colonial domination of European powers. The nation states emerged in the post-colonial era have adopted a variety of political and economic models. As of 2015, over 1.7 billion or about 23. 4% of the population are Muslims including the 4. 4% who live as minorities. Muslim history involves the history of the Islamic faith as a religion, the history of Islam began in Arabia with the Islamic prophet Muhammads first recitations of the Quran in the 7th century in the month of Ramadan. However, Islam under the Rashidun Caliphate grew rapidly, a century after the death of last Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Islamic empire extended from Spain in the west to Indus in the east. The Islamic Golden Age coincided with the Middle Ages in the Muslim world, starting with the rise of Islam and establishment of the first Islamic state in 622. The end of the age is given as 1258 with the Mongolian Sack of Baghdad, or 1492 with the completion of the Christian Reconquista of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus. The Abbasids were influenced by the Quranic injunctions and hadiths, such as the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr, that stressed the value of knowledge. The major Islamic capital cities of Baghdad, Cairo, and Córdoba became the intellectual centers for science, philosophy, medicine. Between the 8th and 18th centuries, the use of glaze was prevalent in Islamic art. Tin-opacified glazing was one of the earliest new technologies developed by the Islamic potters, the first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th century. Another contribution was the development of fritware, originating from 9th century Iraq, other centers for innovative ceramic pottery in the Old world included Fustat, Damascus and Tabriz. The original concept is derived from a pre-Islamic Persian prototype Hezār Afsān that relied on particular Indian elements and it reached its final form by the 14th century, the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another. All Arabian fantasy tales tend to be called Arabian Nights stories when translated into English, regardless of whether they appear in The Book of One Thousand and this work has been very influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland. Imitations were written, especially in France, various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. A famous example of Arabic poetry and Persian poetry on romance is Layla and Majnun and it is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet, which was itself said to have been inspired by a Latin version of Layla and Majnun to an extent

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Islamic calendar
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The Islamic, Muslim, or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries and it is also used by Muslims to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper time for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Islamic calendar employs the Hijri era whose epoch was retrospectively established as the Islamic New Year of AD622, during that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib and established the first Muslim community, an event commemorated as the Hijra. In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH in parallel with the Christian, in Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form. In English, years prior to the Hijra are reckoned as BH, the current Islamic year is 1438 AH. In the Gregorian calendar,1438 AH runs from approximately 3 October 2016 to 21 September 2017, four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred, Rajab, and the three consecutive months of Dhū al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Ḥijjah and Muḥarram. As the lunar calendar lags behind the solar calendar by about ten days every gregorian year, the cycle repeats every 33 lunar years. Each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle, traditionally this is based on actual observation of the crescent marking the end of the previous lunar cycle and hence the previous month, thereby beginning the new month. Consequently, each month can have 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the moon, astronomical positioning of the earth and weather conditions. However, certain sects and groups, most notably Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and Shia Ismaili Muslims, use a tabular Islamic calendar in which odd-numbered months have thirty days, in Arabic, the first day of the week corresponds with Sunday of the planetary week. The Islamic weekdays, like those in the Hebrew and Baháí calendars, the Christian liturgical day, kept in monasteries, begins with vespers, which is evening, in line with the other Abrahamic traditions. Christian and planetary weekdays begin at the following midnight, Muslims gather for worship at a mosque at noon on gathering day which corresponds with Friday. Thus gathering day is regarded as the weekly day of rest. A few others have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a midday break to allow time off for worship. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars, at least some of these calendars followed the lunisolar system. For Central Arabia, especially Mecca, there is a lack of epigraphical evidence, both al-Biruni and al-Masudi suggest that the Ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs. Nevertheless, the Islamic position equating Nisan with Dhū al-Ḥijja has prevailed, for a comparison between the Islamic and pre-Islamic months, see Islamic and Jahili months. The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah, Hejaz, the forbidden months were four months during which fighting is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhu al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram

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Islamic studies
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Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam and Islamic culture. Islamic studies can be seen under at least two perspectives, From a secular or neutral point of view, Islamic studies do academic research on Islam and Islamic culture independent of faith. In this respect, Islamic studies neither engage in shaping Muslim faith by making Islamic theology, from a Muslim point of view, Islamic studies also do academic research on Islam and Islamic culture, but from a faithful perspective. Historically, both perspectives had been separated by the separation of the Western and Islamic worlds. They differed in their understanding of academia and were organized either in universities or madrasas, scholars of Islamic studies are called by their special field of study, as e. g. historian, sociologist, or political scientist, or in general a scholar of Islamic studies. The professional title Islamicist is dated, scholars of Islamic studies from a faithful point of view can be historians etc. too, yet they also can be called Muslim scholar, teacher of religion, cleric, or Ulama. In a Muslim context, Islamic studies is the term for the Islamic sciences. Specialists in the discipline apply methods adapted from several fields, ranging from Biblical studies and classical philology to modern history, legal history. Scholars in the field of academic Islamic studies are often referred to as Islamicists, in fact, some of the more traditional Western universities still confer degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies under the primary title of Oriental studies. This is the case, for example, at the University of Oxford, the first attempt to understand Islam as a topic of modern scholarship was within the context of 19th-century Christian European Oriental studies. Some orientalists praised the tolerance of Islamic countries in contrast with the Christian West. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, philological and historical approaches were predominant, leading in the field were German researchers like Theodore Nöldeke s study on the history of the Quran, or Ignaz Goldziher s work on the prophetic tradition. Western orientalists and Muslim scholars alike preferred to interpret the history of Islam in a conservative way and they did not question the traditional account of the early time of Islam, of Muhammad and how the Quran was written. To understand the history of Islam provides the basis to understand all aspects of Islam. Themes of special interest are, Historiography of early Islam History of the Quran Historicity of Muhammad Early Muslim conquests Kalam is one of the sciences of Islam. In Arabic, the word means discussion and refers to the Islamic tradition of seeking theological principles through dialectic, a scholar of kalam is referred to as a mutakallim. Islamic eschatology Sufism is a tradition of Islam based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as it is gradually revealed to the heart. It might also be referred to as Islamic mysticism, while other branches of Islam generally focus on exoteric aspects of religion, Sufism is mainly focused on the direct perception of truth or God through mystic practices based on divine love

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Islamic art
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Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onward by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations. The huge field of Islamic architecture is the subject of an article, leaving fields as varied as calligraphy, painting, glass, pottery. Islamic art is not at all restricted to art, but includes all the art of the rich. It frequently includes secular elements and elements that are frowned upon, if not forbidden, figurative painting may cover religious scenes, but normally in essentially secular contexts such as the walls of palaces or illuminated books of poetry. There are repeating elements in Islamic art, such as the use of floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known as the arabesque. The arabesque in Islamic art is used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible. Mistakes in repetitions may be introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce perfection. Human portrayals can be found in all eras of Islamic art, above all in the private form of miniatures. Human representation for the purpose of worship is considered idolatry and is forbidden in some interpretations of Islamic law. There are also depictions of Muhammad, Islams chief prophet. Small decorative figures of animals and humans, especially if they are hunting the animals, are found on pieces in many media from many periods. Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions recording ownership or donation, Islamic calligraphy in the form of painting or sculptures are sometimes referred to as quranic art. Large inscriptions made from tiles, sometimes with the letters raised in relief, complex carved calligraphy also decorates buildings. For most of the Islamic period the majority of coins only showed lettering, the tughra or monogram of an Ottoman sultan was used extensively on official documents, with very elaborate decoration for important ones. Other single sheets of calligraphy, designed for albums, might contain short poems, Quranic verses, or other texts. The main languages, all using Arabic script, are Arabic, always used for Quranic verses, Persian in the Persianate world, especially for poetry, calligraphers usually had a higher status than other artists. The tradition of the Persian miniature has been dominant since about the 13th century, strongly influencing the Ottoman miniature of Turkey, portraits of rulers developed in the 16th century, and later in Persia, then becoming very popular. Mughal portraits, normally in profile, are very finely drawn in a realist style, while the best Ottoman ones are vigorously stylized, album miniatures typically featured picnic scenes, portraits of individuals or animals, or idealized youthful beauties of either sex

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Islam and children
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The topic of Islam and children includes the rights of children in Islam, childrens duties towards their parents, and parents rights over their children, both biological and foster children. Also discussed are some of the differences regarding rights with respect to different schools of thought, the Quran uses various terms for children, but, according to Avner Giladi, the context seldom makes it clear whether it is exclusively referring to non-mature children, or simply offspring. The Quranic statements about children, Giladi states, are concerned with infanticide, adoption, breast-feeding. These statements were of a significance for later Muslim jurists who formed the foundations of Islamic legislation. Muhammad established laws and examples in respect of which is obligatory for the Muslim community to follow, Muhammad had seven children, three boys and four girls. All his sons, including Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, died in infancy, because of this, his experience as a father is sometimes described as sorrowful. Muhammad also had a son, Zayd, who is said to be the object of Muhammads parental affection. He also had two grandsons, Hassan and Hussein, and three granddaughters, Umm Kulthum, Zaynab and Umamah, in one Islamic tradition, Muhammad ran after Hussein in a game until he caught him. Muhammad used to let Umamah sit on his shoulders while he was praying, when Muhammad was chided for kissing his grandchild, he responded, what can I do if God has deprived your heart of all human feeling. Muhammad has been described as being fond of children in general. Watt attributes this to Muhammads yearning for children, as most of his own children died before him and he comforted a child whose pet nightingale had died. Muhammad played many games with children, joked with them and befriended them, Muhammad also showed love to children of other religions. Once he visited his Jewish neighbors son when the child was sick, once, Muhammad was sitting with a child in his lap, and the child urinated over Muhammad. Embarrassed, the father scolded the child, Muhammad restrained the father, and advised him, This is not a big issue. But be careful with how you treat the child, what can restore his self-esteem after you have dealt with him in public like this. Advent of Islam The Quran forbade sexual relations between males and their milk-mothers or milk-sisters, the Quran in 19 verses forbids harsh and oppressive treatment of orphaned children while urging kindness and justice towards them. Six-year-old Muhammad himself became an orphan after his mother died in 577, an early Quranic verse celebrates Gods providence and care towards him. Other Quranic verses identify those who repulse the orphan as unbelievers, rebuke those who do not honor the orphans, the Quran speaks of the reward waiting for those who feed orphans, poor and the prisoner for the love of God

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Islamic schools and branches
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This article summarizes the different branches and schools in Islam. The best known split, into Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, and Kharijites, was mainly political when it occurred in the early Islamic era, there are three traditional types of schools in Islam, schools of jurisprudence, Sufi orders and schools of theology. The article also summarizes major denominations and movements that have arisen in the modern era, the first centuries of Islam gave rise to three major sects, Sunnis, Shias and Kharijites. Each sect developed distinct jurisprudence schools reflecting different methodologies of jurisprudence, for instance, Sunnis are separated into five sub-sects, namely, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali and Ẓāhirī. Shia, on the hand, was first developed Kaysanites. Qarmatians, Ismailis, Fatimids, Assassins of Alamut and Druses all emerged from the Seveners, Ismailism later split into Nizari Ismaili and Musta’li Ismaili, and then Mustaali was divided into Hafizi and Taiyabi Ismailis. Moreover, Imami-Shia later brought into existence Jafari jurisprudence, akhbarism, Usulism, Shaykism, Alawites and Alevism were all developed from Ithnaasharis. Similarly, Kharijites were initially divided into five branches, Sufris, Azariqa, Najdat, Adjarites. Among these numerous branches, only Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali, Imamiyyah-Jafari-Usuli, Nizārī Ismāīlī, Alevi, Zaydi, Ibadi, Zahiri, Alawite, Druze and Taiyabi communities have survived. In addition, new schools of thought and movements like Quranist Muslims, Ahmadi Muslims, Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam and are known as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h or simply as Ahl as-Sunnah. The word Sunni comes from the sunnah, which means the teachings and actions or examples of the Islamic prophet. Therefore, the term Sunni refers to those who follow or maintain the sunnah of Muhammad, in many countries, overwhelming majorities of Muslims are Sunnis, so that they simply refer to themselves as Muslims and do not use the Sunni label. Sunni Muslims regard the first four caliphs as al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn or The Rightly Guided Caliphs, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the Muslim world. Shia Islam, is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising 10-13% of the total Muslim population in the world, Shia Muslims, though a minority in the Muslim world, constitute the majority of the populations in Iran, and Iraq, as well as a plurality in Lebanon. The Shia Islamic faith is broad and includes many different groups, there are various Shia theological beliefs, schools of jurisprudence, philosophical beliefs, and spiritual movements. The Twelvers believe in twelve Imams, the Alawites are a sub-denomination of this sect. Ismailism, including the Nizārī, Sevener, Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Hebtiahs Bohra, Sulaimani Bohra, the Druze are a distinct traditional religion that developed in the 11th century. The Zaidiyyah historically come from the followers of Zayd ibn Ali, Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to some figures of Islamic history or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shii theology were called as Ghulāt

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Islamic feminism
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A combination of Islam and feminism has been advocated as a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm by Margot Badran in 2002. There are substantial differences to be noted between the terms Islamic feminist and Islamist, any of these terms can be used of men or women. Islamic feminism is defined by Islamic scholars as being more radical than secular feminism, during recent times, the concept of Islamic feminism has grown further with Islamic groups looking to garner support from many aspects of society. In addition, educated Muslim women are striving to articulate their role in society, Islamists are advocates of political Islam, the notion that the Quran and hadith mandate a caliphate, i. e. an Islamic government. Some Islamists advocate womens rights in the public sphere but do not challenge gender inequality in the personal, suad al-Fatih al-Badawi, a Sudanese academic and Islamist politician, has argued that feminism is incompatible with taqwa, and thus Islam and feminism are mutually exclusive. During the early days of Islam in the 7th century CE, reforms in womens rights affected marriage, the Oxford Dictionary of Islam states that the general improvement of the status of women in Arab societies included prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing womens full personhood. Under Islamic law, marriage was no longer viewed as a status but rather as a contract, the dowry, previously regarded as a bride-price paid to the father, became a nuptial gift retained by the wife as part of her personal property. Women were given inheritance rights in a society that had previously restricted inheritance to male relatives. William Montgomery Watt states that Muhammad, in the context of his time, can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of womens rights. Muhammad, however, by instituting rights of property ownership, inheritance, education and divorce, whilst the pre-modern period lacked a formal feminist movement, nevertheless a number of important figures argued for improving womens rights and autonomy. Women played an important role in the foundations of many Islamic educational institutions and this continued through to the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th and 13th centuries, of 160 mosques and madrasahs established in Damascus, women funded 26 through the Waqf system. Half of all the patrons for these institutions were also women. According to the Sunni scholar Ibn Asakir in the 12th century and he wrote that girls and women could study, earn ijazahs, and qualify as scholars and teachers. This was especially the case for learned and scholarly families, who wanted to ensure the highest possible education for both their sons and daughters, Ibn Asakir had himself studied under 80 different female teachers. Female education in the Islamic world was inspired by Muhammads wives, Khadijah, a businesswoman, and Aisha. Muhammad is said to have praised the women of Medina for their desire for knowledge, How splendid were the women of the ansar. While it was not common for women to enroll as students in classes, they did attend informal lectures and study sessions at mosques, madrasahs. Although there were no restrictions on female education, some men did not approve of this practice

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Madrasa
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Madrasa is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious. The word is variously transliterated madrasah, medresa, madrassa, madraza, medrese, in the West, the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the Islamic religion, though this may not be the only subject studied. In countries like India, not all students in madrasas are Muslims, the word madrasah derives from the triconsonantal Semitic root د-ر-س D-R-S to learn, study, through the wazn مفعل‎, mafʻal, meaning a place where something is done. Therefore, madrasah literally means a place where learning and studying take place, for example, in the Ottoman Empire during the Early Modern Period, madaris had lower schools and specialised schools where the students became known as danişmends. The usual Arabic word for a university, however, is جامعة, the Hebrew cognate midrasha also connotes the meaning of a place of learning, the related term midrash literally refers to study or learning, but has acquired mystical and religious connotations. However, in English, the term usually refers to the specifically Islamic institutions. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic, tafsir, sharīʻah, hadiths, mantiq, in the Ottoman Empire, during the Early Modern Period, the study of hadiths was introduced by Süleyman I. Depending on the demands, some madaris also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature, English and other foreign languages, as well as science. Ottoman madaris along with religious teachings also taught styles of writing, grammary, syntax, poetry, composition, natural sciences, political sciences, people of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams. The certificate of an ʻālim, for example, requires approximately twelve years of study, a good number of the ḥuffāẓ are the product of the madaris. The madaris also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes, an important function of the madaris is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madaris may enroll female students, however, they study separately from the men, the term Islamic education means education in the light of Islam itself, which is rooted in the teachings of the Quran - holy book of Muslims. Islamic education and Muslim education are not the same, because Islamic education has epistemological integration which is founded on Tawhid - Oneness or monotheism. The first institute of education was at the estate of Hazrat Zaid bin Arkam near a hill called Safa, where Hazrat Muhammad was the teacher. After Hijrah the madrasa of Suffa was established in Madina on the east side of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi mosque, ubada ibn as-Samit was appointed there by Hazrat Muhammad as teacher and among the students. In the curriculum of the madrasa, there were teachings of The Quran, The Hadith, faraiz, tajweed, genealogy, treatises of first aid, there were also trainings of horse-riding, art of war, handwriting and calligraphy, athletics and martial arts. The first part of madrasa based education is estimated from the first day of nabuwwat to the first portion of the Umaiya caliphate and it was founded by Fāṭimah al-Fihrī, the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Muḥammad al-Fihrī. This was later followed by the establishment of al-Azhar in 959 in Cairo, niẓām al-Mulk, who would later be murdered by the Assassins, created a system of state madaris in various ʻAbbāsid cities at the end of the 11th century

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Mosque
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A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni jurisprudence for a place of worship to be considered a mosque, many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents, the mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for salat as well as a center for information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the congregation in prayer, the first mosque in the world is often considered to be the area around the Kaaba in Mecca now known as the Masjid al-Haram. Others regard the first mosque in history to be the Quba Mosque in present-day Medina since it was the first structure built by Muhammad upon his emigration from Mecca in 622. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad went on to another mosque in Medina. Built on the site of his home, Muhammad participated in the construction of the mosque himself and helped pioneer the concept of the mosque as the focal point of the Islamic city. The Masjid al-Nabawi introduced some of the still common in todays mosques, including the niche at the front of the prayer space known as the mihrab. The Masjid al-Nabawi was also constructed with a courtyard, a motif common among mosques built since then. Mosques had been built in Iraq and North Africa by the end of the 7th century, the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala is reportedly one of the oldest mosques in Iraq, although its present form – typical of Persian architecture – only goes back to the 11th century. The shrine, while operating as a mosque, remains one of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims, as it honors the death of the third Shia imam. The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As was reportedly the first mosque in Egypt, serving as a religious, like the Imam Husayn Shrine, though, nothing of its original structure remains. With the later Shia Fatimid Caliphate, mosques throughout Egypt evolved to include schools, hospitals and it was the first to incorporate a square minaret and includes naves akin to a basilica. Those features can also be found in Andalusian mosques, including the Grand Mosque of Cordoba, still, some elements of Visigothic architecture, like horseshoe arches, were infused into the mosque architecture of Spain and the Maghreb. The first mosque in East Asia was reportedly established in the 8th century in Xian, however, the Great Mosque of Xian, whose current building dates from the 18th century, does not replicate the features often associated with mosques elsewhere. Indeed, minarets were initially prohibited by the state, mosques in western China were more likely to incorporate elements, like domes and minarets, traditionally seen in mosques elsewhere. In turn, the Javanese style influenced the styles of mosques in Indonesias Austronesian neighbors—Malaysia, Brunei, Muslim empires were instrumental in the evolution and spread of mosques. Although mosques were first established in India during the 7th century, reflecting their Timurid origins, Mughal-style mosques included onion domes, pointed arches, and elaborate circular minarets, features common in the Persian and Central Asian styles

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Islamic philosophy
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Islamic philosophy is the systematic investigation of problems connected with life, the universe, ethics, society, and so on as conducted in the Muslim world. Early Islamic philosophy began in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and this period began with al-Kindi in the 9th century and ended with Averroes at the end of 12th century. Ibn Khaldun, in his Muqaddimah, made important contributions to the philosophy of history, Interest in Islamic philosophy revived during the Nahda movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and continues to the present day. Islamic philosophy refers to philosophy produced in an Islamic society and it is not necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor exclusively produced by Muslims. Nor do all schools of thought within Islam admit the usefulness or legitimacy of philosophical inquiry, some argue that there is no indication that the limited knowledge and experience of humans can lead to truth. It is also important to observe that, while reason is sometimes recognised as a source of Islamic law, Islamic philosophy is a generic term that can be defined and used in different ways. In its broadest sense it means the view of Islam, as derived from the Islamic texts concerning the creation of the universe. In another sense it refers to any of the schools of thought flourished under the Islamic empire or in the shadow of the Arab-Islamic culture. The historiography of Islamic philosophy is marked by disputes as to how the subject should be properly interpreted, Islamic philosophy as the name implies refers to philosophical activity within the Islamic milieu. Many of the philosophical debates centered around reconciling religion and reason. Some Muslims oppose the idea of philosophy as un-Islamic, but the fact of the matter is that philosophy is an alien entity in the body of Islam. Ibn Abi al-Izz, a commentator on al-Tahhaawiyyah, condemns philosophers as the ones who most deny the Last Day, in their view Paradise and Hell are no more than parables for the masses to understand, but they have no reality beyond people’s minds. In early Islamic thought, which refers to philosophy during the Islamic Golden Age, the first is Kalam, which mainly dealt with Islamic theological questions, and the other is Falsafa, which was founded on interpretations of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism. In Arabic, the word literally means speech, one of first debates was that between partisans of the Qadar, who affirmed free will, and the Jabarites, who believed in fatalism. At the 2nd century of the Hijra, a new movement arose in the school of Basra. A pupil of Hasan of Basra, Wasil ibn Ata, left the group when he disagreed with his teacher on whether a Muslim who has committed a major sin invalidates his faith and he systematized the radical opinions of preceding sects, particularly those of the Qadarites and Jabarites. This new school was called Mutazilite, the Mutazilites looked in towards a strict rationalism with which to interpret Islamic doctrine. Their attempt was one of the first to pursue a rational theology in Islam and they were however severely criticized by other Islamic philosophers, both Maturidis and Asharites